They’re not worth anything, never were but even less through the years with inflation.
If a store wants to sell something for 99 cent, they can either just take 1€ or 95 cent.
Maybe even 5 cent pieces? But that would be a bit radical.
I am a bit annoyed that easy ideas like this are never discussed in politics, or wherever. It would make our lives just a little bit easier, and having them achieves NOTHING.
No, I actually don’t believe that it was just your place in the East. I live in a major city in NRW and in my neighborhood only the big chains like EDEKA, dm or Aldi accepted cards before the pandemic. Everything else? Nope! Either it was “Cash or GTFO here”, “Cards only for purchases above 10€” or “Sorry, the card reader is broken - again”.