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  • Canada Eliminates Penny, Which Costs Penny-and-a-Half

    From bloomberg.com

    Read Full Story at bloomberg.com

    Canada will withdraw the penny from circulation this year, saving taxpayers about C$11 million ($11 million) annually and forcing retailers to round prices to the nearest nickel, the government announced in its budget today. The Royal Canadian Mint, which has produced 35 billion pennies since it began production in 1908, will cease distribution this fall due to the coin’s low purchasing power. Production and handling cost for the one-cent coin are a C$150- million drag on the economy, according to a 2006 study by Desjardins, a Levis, Quebec-based financial institution. “Pennies take up too much space ... (full story)

    • the redlion
      the redlion's Avatar

        2,272 posts
    • hahaha of course businesses like it, the get to hike up the price on cash costumers, so who will really regulate that 0-2 is rounded down and 3+ is rounded up? and even then.... 2/5 probability of rounding down while 3/5 of rounding up...as they use bank accounts to purchase from suppliers they keep the difference.

      brilliant

    • Trainman
      Trainman's Avatar

        138 posts
    • It's about time. That's what they did in Saudi Arabia when I lived there 20 years ago. The system worked fine.

      Side color: several centuries back, a penny was the standard pay for a day's work for a man. Goes to show just how far governments have gone in devaluing our currencies.

    • Price
      Price's Avatar

        772 posts
    • It's a time savings and a cost savings.

      The 2/5 probability is not correct. It's a wash.

      {Example: There are 10 possibilities. Zero and Five do not round.}
      So... 1 & 2 round down ---- 3 & 4 round up,,,,, 6 & 7 down, 8 & 9 up. Equal

    • Slim Buffett
      Slim Buffett's Avatar

        1,311 posts
    • The US might be next at doing away with the penny. I've even read articles about "penny hoarders" waiting until the penny is no longer legal tender.
      Then, the 1982 and before pennies, which are mostly copper can be sold for scrap copper (worth around 3 cents each).

    • Price
      Price's Avatar

        772 posts
    • Yup. Gas was 25 cents a gallon in 1964. Nothing's changed.... You can still get a gallon of gas for a quarter, it just needs to be a 1964 quarter.
      (Source: http://www.coinflation.com/ 1964 quarter worth $5.80 in silver)

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