TL;DR: Not free, but ~$6/year for the first year, ~$20/year thereafter
But other countries have $1 and $2 coins, with paper bills only starting at $5.
Transit tokens in Toronto are tiny and worth $3. I’ve dropped a few because they catch on my phone case edge.
I found it eventually along a €2 coin somebody left there. On my way back I also found a €1 coin and a 50c one. I guess people lose a measurable amount of cash this way.
[0] Non-Italian cards don't work on Italian motorways - only cash. Knowledge I acquired through error of my own so now other people don't have to.
In one instance in Venice though the employee preferred to argue with me over the speakerphone insisting that I "insert euro" even though I didn't have any cash one me(there are no ATMs on the motorways - something I learned that day).
His line of thinking was that I want the receipt so that I can avoid paying by never returning to Italy.