Canada without the 1 cent coin

[gsdx]

Today is the first day in Canada that the lowly penny will not be handed out in change. We can spend them, but we won't get any back.

From now on, cash transactions ONLY will be rounded down to a zero if the final number of the TOTAL cost is either a 1 or a 2. It will round up to five if the final number is 3 or 4. Over time, the rounding up and rounding down should balance each other out. Individual prices will remain unchanged. Your $1.49 tin of pork & beans won't suddenly become $1.50.

Credit or debit card purchases, or gift card purchases and cheques, will not be rounded either way. Pennies will still exist in your bank accounts.

I survived my first non-penny transaction at the grocery store this morning. I paid with my debit card. Nothing changed.

It's really not that big a deal. I don't think I will miss the penny.

[star-warrior]

How are you going to get change for C$2.00 if you buy a C$1.99 item?

I guess I need to read better, lol...

[FPNY]

I like the penny, but I think they are going to go away in the US too.

[ozguy]

I don't think I will miss the penny.

Trust me, you won't. We got rid of the 1c and 2c coins years ago (in 1994, I think) and haven't missed them one iota! Cash transactions are now rounded to the nearest 5 cents, while non cash payments (cheques, credit/debit cards etc) can still be made to the cent. The system works fine.

The only coins circulating in our currency now are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins ...

[gsdx]

Trust me, you won't. We got rid of the 1c and 2c coins years ago

I don't think Canada (as a country) has ever had a 2c coin. Maybe as a colony when we used British money, but not as a country. I can't even find one on Google.

[Harke the Boeotarch]

Trust me, you won't. We got rid of the 1c and 2c coins years ago (in 1994, I think) and haven't missed them one iota! Cash transactions are now rounded to the nearest 5 cents, while non cash payments (cheques, credit/debit cards etc) can still be made to the cent. The system works fine.

The only coins circulating in our currency now are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins ...

I think it's lousy. In the Netherlands we got rid of our 1 cent coins in 1980. In 2002 the euro was introduced and soon shopkeepers were no longer forced to accept 1 and 2 cent euro coins. If you are a self-respecting nation you should go all the way and have a consistent coin system.

[cynicus]

Wikipedia says it costs 2 cents to make a penny. Maybe that is one loophole the US can close to save money. Think of the millions of jars in the US filled with pennies. I got one myself. I remember years ago in Italy getting change in chewing gum because of a coin shortage--but that is why I love Italy!

[gsdx]

Wikipedia says it costs 2 cents to make a penny. Maybe that is one loophole the US can close to save money.

That is precisely why Canada is getting rid of it. New pennies haven't been minted in quite some time now. From what I've read in this forum alone, Americans seem to be convinced that ALL prices will be rounded up or down (and, most probably, 'up'). In truth, if you buy a candy bar for 99 cents or even a new car for $139,999.99, it will only cost you a penny more.

[PreTTy PeTe]

money? people still use that?

I charge everything. so easy just to tap that credit card on the machine then fiddle around with change.

[cgymike]

Does that mean pennies will not be shown on your chequing balance?

[HoodedRat]

I hope the UK gets rid of the 1p and 2p coins. Any value smaller than 5p seems pointless these days, and the sizes and designs of the 1p and 2p are aesthetically displeasing. We also need tough 'plastic-style' notes instead of these ridiculously flimsy paper things.

I doubt that anyone misses the groat, the farthing, the ha'penny, the thre'pence, the sixpence, the half-crown, the crown, and the ten-shilling note .. all of which, except the first two, were about when I was a kid.

[AshyPhoenix]

I'm very pleased about this. The penny costs more to produce than it's actually even worth (or so I've heard; I could be wrong), and I hate change at the best of times.

[gsdx]

Does that mean pennies will not be shown on your chequing balance?

This 'rounding' applies ONLY to cash purchases. Virtual pennies will exist forever. Your bank accounts will NOT be rounded to the nearest nickel.

[FPNY]

I'm very pleased about this. The penny costs more to produce than it's actually even worth (or so I've heard; I could be wrong), and I hate change at the best of times.

i put all my change in a bin at the end of the day, when the bin is full, i put it in a jar and when that is full i take it to the bank, they count it and i put it in a savings account that i use when i need some mad money......

[M10000]

http://www.ctvnews.ca/canada/penny-p...ules-1.1141882

[gsdx]

Things are going to have to change:

"When it rains, it rains and rains nickels from Heaven."
"A nickel for your thoughts."
"See a nickel, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck."
Nickel loafers
Nickel ante
Nickel Arcade
"Nickel wise and pound foolish."
Nickel Marshall
Sky King, Clipper, and Nickel
Nickel candy and nickel matches
"In Nickel Lane there is a barber showing photographs. . ."
Nickel pincher

[FPNY]

/\ i see what you are saying, it could bring on big troubles. I say we should keep the penny, or it could be the end of days...

[secondmonkey]

Wikipedia says it costs 2 cents to make a penny.

People always try to use this argument about getting rid of the penny, but it's ridiculous. Maybe it cost more than a cent to make a penny, but so what. What about all the money they "make" when they stamp out nickles, dimes, and quarters? They still come out ahead.

[gsdx]

People always try to use this argument about getting rid of the penny, but it's ridiculous.

The US Mint still prints $2 bills. Have you ever had one in your wallet?

[secondmonkey]

The US Mint still prints $2 bills. Have you ever had one in your wallet?

Yep.

[gsdx]

^ Not many, I'd wager. Here in Canada, the $2 bill (and now the $2 coin) have always been as popular and common as the $1 bill (and now the $1 coin). I'd also wager that a vast majority of Americans have never even seen a $2 bill let alone know that they even exist.

[Kahaih]

Things are going to have to change:

"When it rains, it rains and rains nickels from Heaven."
"A nickel for your thoughts."
"See a nickel, pick it up, and all the day you'll have good luck."
Nickel loafers
Nickel ante
Nickel Arcade
"Nickel wise and pound foolish."
Nickel Marshall
Sky King, Clipper, and Nickel
Nickel candy and nickel matches
"In Nickel Lane there is a barber showing photographs. . ."
Nickel pincher

Oh, nothing.

I just wanted to quote your two cents worth to see if JUB’s software would automatically round down.

[secondmonkey]

I'd also wager that a vast majority of Americans have never even seen a $2 bill let alone know that they even exist.

They're hard to spend - a lot of people think they're fake and don't know what they are.

They keep trying to force $1 coins on us but Americans have proven over and over that we do not want them. I'm not sure if they are still doing it, but for a long while they were minting billions of presidential dollar coins that they could not distribute to banks, because nobody wanted them. They still kept cranking them out and filling up enormous warehouses with them...

[gsdx]

They keep trying to force $1 coins on us but Americans have proven over and over that we do not want them.

From what I've heard, the biggest problem is that the coins were too similar to the quarter. It should be unique and easily identifiable. I think that Americans would accept the coin if the government didn't keep backing down. It costs so much when they do that. Like metric conversion. They got half-way through, then changed their minds and had to pay to switch everything back again.

[bankside]

I'm very pleased about this. The penny costs more to produce than it's actually even worth (or so I've heard; I could be wrong), and I hate change at the best of times.

Embrace change. Roll with it. It's part of life

[bankside]

I think we should not have a coin as worthless as the penny, but I also agree that if an amount exists, you should be able to pay it in actual cash. I'd be in favour of just dropping the hundredths of a dollar and going with dimes.

Prices would look like $6.2 or $99.9 and our smallest coin would actually have a reasonable value.

[M10000]

I'm very pleased about this. The penny costs more to produce than it's actually even worth (or so I've heard; I could be wrong), and I hate change at the best of times.

I think its is - dont quote me - 1.3 cents to make


Im guessing Americans might know we dont have dollar stores. There LOONIE stores lol

[gsdx]

I think its is - dont quote me - 1.3 cents to make

It's more than that:

The move comes nearly a year after Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the demise of the penny, whose production cost came to exceed its monetary value: it cost 1.6 cents to make each penny.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02...enny-last-day/

[M10000]

Hey, my scanner separated the coins for me into two images

[cityboy-stl]

The US Mint still prints $2 bills. Have you ever had one in your wallet?

Yes. I love $2 bills. They are so much fun. Everyone always says something when you give them a $2 bill. Twice though I've run into some dip shit counter clerk who thought they were fake and wouldn't take them. It's still fun though to make them call the manager to assure them the bills are real.

On the subject of pennies I am certain it would be far too complicated for our idiot congress to figure out how to get rid of them. But should they actually conceive a plan in the next 10 to 20 years I am equally certain they will manage to screw it up some way.

[bankside]

It's not hard. You just have the banks return all the $1s to be shredded whenever anyone deposits them. And you send back coins in return.

[gsdx]

^ Exactly. Canadians were given ample warning about what would happen and when it would happen. And then it happened. No going back. Now, it's like, "Why didn't we do this years ago?"

[purina]

I've been hearing on the radio that the Canadian penny costs 1.6¢ to produce. There was an interview with a coin dealer who's paying 1.3¢ for pre-1996 pennies with the aim of eventually selling them for melting down for the copper content.

[secondmonkey]

There was an interview with a coin dealer who's paying 1.3¢ for pre-1996 pennies with the aim of eventually selling them for melting down for the copper content.

He's ripping someone off at that price. I have a warehouse full of US copper pennies. I sort them from normal circulation using a machine that I built. (all pennies pre 1982 are copper, new ones are zinc) Current melt value for US pennies is about 2.4 cents each, and Canadian pennies are about 2 cents.

It is not currently legal to melt pennies in the US but that is likely to change as soon as the mint decides there are enough new zinc pennies in circulation or the penny is discontinued. Investors buy them from me by the ton.

It's basically the same thing that happened when they were still making coins out of silver, and the price of silver skyrocketed.

[diamondstar]

Trust me, you won't. We got rid of the 1c and 2c coins years ago (in 1994, I think) and haven't missed them one iota! Cash transactions are now rounded to the nearest 5 cents, while non cash payments (cheques, credit/debit cards etc) can still be made to the cent. The system works fine.

The only coins circulating in our currency now are 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 coins ...

Those coins look so cool. I want the middle one on the top.

[seven2go]

money? people still use that?

I charge everything. so easy just to tap that credit card on the machine then fiddle around with change.

And I am the opposite........everything I buy in person is paid for with cash.
It's the idea of not having a paper trail for every fucking move I make........it's just the idea of the thing........it's about the only bit of privacy left.......

[voyager1994]

Finally it's time!

[PreTTy PeTe]

And I am the opposite........everything I buy in person is paid for with cash.
It's the idea of not having a paper trail for every fucking move I make........it's just the idea of the thing........it's about the only bit of privacy left.......

paranoid much??

[ozguy]

Those coins look so cool. I want the middle one on the top.

Thanks, I like them, too! That's an echidna on the 5c coin, a platypus on the 20c coin, a lyre bird on the 10c coin and you all know what's on the $1 coin!

The designs on the 5c, 10c and 20c coins were created when decimal currency was first introduced in Australia in February, 1966, and haven't changed at all over the years. The $1 coin was introduced in 1984 and the $2 coin followed in 1988.

Our 1c coin featured a feather tail glider ....

Our 2c coin featured the frill-necked lizard ....

The 1c coin was actually quite a lot smaller than the 2c coin, though they look almost the same size in those pictures.

The 50c coin usually features the Aussie Coat of Arms on one side, though 'special' mintings are often made that feature other designs to commemorate particular significant occasions in our country.

[seven2go]

And I am the opposite........everything I buy in person is paid for with cash.
It's the idea of not having a paper trail for every fucking move I make........it's just the idea of the thing........it's about the only bit of privacy left.......

paranoid much??

Not at all........what's paranoid about wanting to have some vestige of privacy?

[FanofFiction]

I was so happy when the Tories finally picked up on this NDP motion. It cost us 2 million dollars to make one million dollars in pennies. So we threw away a million dollars... for nothing. America really should follow.

[ozguy]

.... America really should follow.

And go metric in everything!!

[gsdx]

And go metric in everything!!

And spell it correctly when they do.

[cgymike]

Yeah but they won't ...yanks just have to be different.

[cityboy-stl]

Why should we? Fahrenheit is more accurate. Miles are more convenient. Cups, pints, quarts and gallons make more sense, and 21 centimeters is non nearly as impressive as 8 inches.

[gsdx]

Why should we? Fahrenheit is more accurate.

How do you figure that? You have 180 units between the freezing point and the boiling point. We have 1,000.

If you can count to 10, you can do metric. It's as simple as that.

[purina]

And go metric in everything!!

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! !!!!!!!!!!!!! That'd make weather forecasts completely unintelligible. Recipes too. I already have enough trouble finding shoes in my size. You're not getting any pennies from me for that thought.

[PreTTy PeTe]

Not at all........what's paranoid about wanting to have some vestige of privacy?

yes they be tracking you when you buy that donut and coffee and tap and go .

got much to hide?

[bankside]

Why should we? Fahrenheit is more accurate. Miles are more convenient. Cups, pints, quarts and gallons make more sense, and 21 centimeters is non nearly as impressive as 8 inches.

No, no, no, no, no, no, and no.

They're outdated measurements that suffer from strange conversion factors, and no measurement scale is more or less accurate than any other. That depends on the sensitivity and proper calibration of the instrument you're using, not the size of the units along the scale.

Most of all, the US hodge-podge of units is just not the standard. The metric system is, and at some point people just need to get on board. Even in the States I understand metric is used in many facets of life already, and in many sectors. All that remains is everyday use and commerce. Might as well just make the switch.

[cityboy-stl]

How do you figure that? You have 180 units between the freezing point and the boiling point. We have 1,000.

If you can count to 10, you can do metric. It's as simple as that.

No, you have 100 units. That makes it less accurate.