It’s official; the Canadian penny is out of circulation. The Royal Canadian Mint has officially stopped distributing the one-cent coins and banks and realtors are doing the same, pushing the penny one step closer to extinction. The reason for the termination: it simply costs more money to produce the penny than the currency it represents. The government even expects they can save about $11 million dollars a year by not supplying the penny.
Realtors across Canada who decide to no longer accept pennies as part of payment will need to round up or down consumer purchases to the nearest five cents.
Basically, any final cash total that ends with a 1,2,6 and 7 will be rounded down to the nearest five-cent increment, and totals ending in 3,4,8 and 9 will be rounded up.
Yet, as the penny is now slowly disappearing from the pockets, wallets and purses across the nation, I can’t help but to feel somewhat sentimental about the virtually worthless piece of copper.
The Canadian penny proudly represented our country by displaying our traditional maple leaf on it, closely imitating the one on our red and white flag.
The penny was the cheapest way to make our wallets feel heavy and full, giving the false illusion that we have wealth. Finally, the penny was the centre point of numerous sayings and phrases.
Although the children of the future will never truly understand what “a penny for your thought,” means, I am willing to get over my sentiment and admit that I am in favour of the elimination of the penny.
The penny was marginally worthless and I rarely used to coin in purchases, as I’m sure many can say the same. Picking up a penny off the ground became not worth the effort of stopping and pennies in my pocket were more of a hassle than a reward.
Although the Canadian penny will still be around for years, it is my prediction that the grievance period of the coin will be short and the penny will soon just be that circular piece of bronze we see in the bottom of fountains.
There is one downside to the decision to eliminate the penny, however. Now that all transactions will be rounded to the nearest five cents, more Nickel Back will be forced upon Canadians- nation wide. That might be a little pricey.
