small change 
noun [mass noun]
1Coins of low value: a couple of pounds in small change...
- The King wanted to replace the cowry shells, used as small change, with copper coins.
- Traveling Indonesians will need a short period of adjustment in counting small change, whose nominal value is as low as one cent.
- Examples of the restored coinage and the new small change that was also introduced will be displayed in the exhibition.
Synonyms
coins, change, coppers, silver, cash
formal specie
1.1Something trivial: his wrongdoings were small change compared to a lot of happenings in the city...
- But the estimated £8m spent by the government on its defence team is small change compared with the cost to the UK and US governments on the trial and appeal.
- The £150,000 cost of replacing it seems small change compared to the 1986 total expenditure but given the extra pressures on council cash in 2003 it is still a tidy sum of money.
- That the women's cricket team now has a sponsor - even it if is a stereotypical women's product, jewellery, is small change compared to the level of support for the men's team.