Seriously, I remember using these things to get gum off of my shoe in elementary school then throwing it in a pond or well because it was all sticky.
I remember being in Australia in 2003 (where they had already taken the penny out of circulation) and loved not having it. The cost of minting one is actually more than the value of the coin and because they are not kept in circulation (people throw them in jars or in ponds where they sit for a decade) more need to be minted than would otherwise be necessary. It will save Canadian taxpayers $11 million a year as well, so that's a huge bonus. Canada joins Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong and Singapore as nations with dollar currencies that have removed the one cent piece (New Zealand and Hong Kong have even taken the 10c piece out, though at Hong Kong's $7=$1 USD exchange rate that makes sense). As for Canada, prices will be rounded up or down, which worked brilliantly in Australia and I'm sure will in Canada as well. I have a few lying around in my bags over here, which I will hold on to for the foreseeable future. There has been speculation that these will be collectors items one day but with the average Canadian having jar, car seats and couch fulls of them already, I don't think their value will skyrocket just yet.
R.I.P Canadian Penny
Actually in Australia or penny was the 1 cent piece.
ReplyDeleteBut e have now taken the 1 and 2 cent pieces out of circulation.
But now I am living in Japan all my 1 and 5 yen pieces are going in the donation tin.