Canada To Stop Making Pennies

New submitter butilikethecookie writes with news that the 2012 federal budget for Canada calls for the Royal Canadian Mint to stop producing pennies. "The budget calls the lowly penny a 'burden to the economy.' 'It costs the government 1.6 cents to produce each new penny,' the budget says, adding the government will save about $11 million a year with its elimination (PDF). Some Canadians, it says, consider the penny more of a nuisance than a useful coin. ... Rounding prices will become the norm as the penny is gradually removed from circulation, the budget says. If consumers find themselves without pennies, cash transactions should be rounded to the nearest five-cent increment 'in a fair and transparent manner,' it says. Noncash payments such as checks and credit cards will continue to be settled by the cent, however."

Comments

I'll own up to it...I throw them away

[crazyjj]

Pennies are so annoying here in the U.S. now that I refuse them when they're offered as change (or toss them into the penny jar or charity jar on the counter when they have one).

Sometimes I forget though, and I usually just throw them in the trash. I just hope my Grandma never finds out. She would have a heart attack on that one. I could never get it through to her that they would cost me more in time to deal with than the pennies themselves are even worth.

Re:I'll own up to it...I throw them away

[Fallingcow]

Fun trick:

1. Place a US penny on some pavement (gotta be a somewhat new one, mind you--don't try this with a steel wheat penny or something, obviously)

2. Heat it with a butane lighter--the kind with the little blue flame that shoots straight out, 'cuz you gotta be able to point it down.
2a. Maybe wear a glove on the lighter-holding hand; optional, and I've never seen it matter, but I've only seen it done a couple times so...

3. Watch as the lower-melting-point zinc busts through the still-solid copper in liquid form!

Hasn't been explosive when I've seen it--it just tears the copper and flows out a bit--but if there's an air bubble or something, who knows; be careful!

Re:I'll own up to it...I throw them away

[willy_me]

1 ten thousandth of a dollar? You do know the pennies are 1 one hundredth of a dollar, don't you?

The difference between American and Canadian pennies is 1/100 of a cent - or 1/10000 or a dollar wich is 0.0001.

Of course the real cost to an American retailer is the need to sort and exchange the Canadian coins. Sounds like a real pain in the ass so I can see why they would be annoyed. It's not that you're stealing from them, you're just making their job harder.

Just like in Switzerland

[Wattos]

Here in Switzerland this is already implemented. The smallest unit is 5 Rappen (5 cents)

Re:Just like in Norway too

[WegianWarrior]

Here in Norway we been doing this for years:
- The 1 øre and 2 øre coins disappeared in '74
- The 5 øre and 25 øre coins were withdrawn in '84
- The 10 øre coin ended being legal tender in '92
- The 50 øre coin will be withdrawn may 1st this year.
So in a little over a month there will be no coins circulating that is worth less than 1 Norwegian krone... but you know what? The wast majority of Norwegians pay by card anyhow, and the prices has not changed with the smaller coins going away. If you pay by card, you pay the exact amount. If you pay cash, it is rounded up or down to the nearest coin-value.

For those curious; after the retirement of the 50 øre coin, a purchase of 9.49 kroner will be rounded down to 9.00 while a purchase of 9.50 kroner will be rounded up to 10.00 - unless you pay by card, in which case you pay the exact sum owed.