[Scourge of Ages]

Part 1: Why pennies should not exist. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y5UT04p5f7U
The same guy who explained what was up with the UK and England explains the problem with pennies. I couldn't agree more, and I have personally stopped accepting pennies as change.

Part 2: Canada discontinues pennies! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nU4E6SSy5Yg

Part 3: And it's not an April Fools' joke! http://edition.cnn.com/2012/03/30/business/canada-penny/index.html

[Mongoose]

Oi, pennies rock.

[headdie]

there goes the fashion of ££.99, hello ££.98

[Sushi]

I can get behind this.

[Flipside]

My only concern is that people forget that coins are not used only once. If the same penny is used in a hundred transactions, it has more than paid for itself.

Edit: To clarify, my concern is not so much the physical cost of producing a Penny coin as to it's relevance in modern day economics, where, once you have obtained one, it's practically impossible to get rid of it again. Even 'Penny Falls' games don't actually accept pennies any more.

[headdie]

My only concern is that people forget that coins are not used only once. If the same penny is used in a hundred transactions, it has more than paid for itself.

Edit: To clarify, my concern is not so much the physical cost of producing a Penny coin as to it's relevance in modern day economics, where, once you have obtained one, it's practically impossible to get rid of it again. Even 'Penny Falls' games don't actually accept pennies any more.

no but the machines that convert your change into denominations more useful at the supermarket do

[Scourge of Ages]

no but the machines that convert your change into denominations more useful at the supermarket do

And Coinstar will charge you like 9.8% in the US to do it, if you want cash. Chances are, that'll be way more than the value of the pennies you turned in.

[headdie]

can still turn £50+ from a tub collected over about a year.  they are also usefull to give to my 4 year old atm

[Nuke]

dont get rid of pennies! then i would have to actually buy actual heatsinks for my voltage regulators!

they are also good ammunition to be used against annoying people.

[Mongoose]

Also you can put them in those cool crank press souvenir machines.

[Nuke]

i honestly dont think ive ever used a penny as currency, now that i think about it.

[watsisname]

I melt them to harvest the zinc sometimes. 

Don't tell my government. 

[deathfun]

I've probably 10$ in pennies

[headdie]

I use them occasionally when buying small things and I have a pocket full of change

[MP-Ryan]

To be clear, the penny is to remain legal tender in Canada indefinitely; the Mint is just going to stop making them, and if neither the merchant or vendor can give change in pennies, the transaction will be rounded to the nearest $0.05.

[Trivial Psychic]

From someone who does work in the retail industry, should pennies eventually be removed from primary circulation, I expect that businesses will change their prices so that "Ticket Price"+GST&PST (on a per-province basis) would always come out to the nearest $0.05, but then there are those who are exempt from paying PST, which will result in the afore-mentioned non-$0.05 final price.  Rounding is fine, but as one who deals with consumers, if the price gets rounded down in their favor, they're all for it, but if the price is rounded up, they'll scream bloody murder and demand to speak with the head of the company, even if the law supports such rounding.

For better or worse, the removal of the penny from the mint lineup is the first step towards an economy without hard currency.

[Klaustrophobia]

i really don't get the point of removing pennies.  i actually use them.  if they are gone, now we just have the same problem with nickels.  there has to be a lowest division.  good luck getting the entire economy to stop using cent increments.

[Mongoose]

One of the small joys of going to college in tax-free Delaware is that I could get a $3.99 meal combo from the one local pizzeria, pay $4, and still get that penny back.  It was far more psychological than practical, but damn it felt good.

[Scourge of Ages]

i really don't get the point of removing pennies.  i actually use them.  if they are gone, now we just have the same problem with nickels.  there has to be a lowest division.  good luck getting the entire economy to stop using cent increments.

As CGPGrey points out, the US once had a 1/2 cent piece. When it was discontinued in 1857, it had more buying power than the dime does today. Also a nickel apparently costs 11.18 cents each to produce, so yeah by this logic that should be discontinued as well.

[Klaustrophobia]

the cost to produce vs. what the denomination is irrelevant.  we're not "losing money" by minting pennies at 1.5 cents each.  i'm just saying trying to get rid of the smallest denomination because people don't like using it is dumb.  all that makes is a NEW smallest denomination.