OTTAWA - There may still be pennies from heaven, but they won't be coming from the mint much longer.
The humble one-cent piece is set to disappear from Canadian pockets, a victim of inflation.
Thursday's federal budget said the
Royal Canadian Mint will strike the last of the little coins this fall.
The budget says the cost of minting a penny has risen to 1.6 cents or $11 million a year. Its purchasing power has fallen to a 20th of its original value.
"Some Canadians consider the penny more of a nuisance than a useful coin," the budget documents said.
And so the coin will go the way of the old 25-cent shinplaster.
"The penny is a currency without any currrency in Canada," Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said at a news conference.
It's nothing but a nuisance for business, he added.
Pennies will still be legal tender, but as they slowly vanish from circulation, prices will have to be rounded up or down.
If the customer has the pennies, they can use them. Payments with debit or credit cards or cheques can also be to the penny. But if the customer is paying cash and doesn't have the pennies, the total will go up or down to the nearest nickel. For example, $1.02 will become $1 and $1.03 will be $1.05.
The budget said experience in other countries that have dropped low-denomination coins suggests that rounding will be fair and there will be no impact on inflation.
As for those jars, boxes and bags of pennies sitting in countless drawers across the country, the government suggests people donate them to charities.
The penny has been under fire for years. New Democrat MP Pat Martin has introduced private member's bills over the years to kill it.
The disappearing penny will likely have little economic impact, but it may require some cultural adjustments.
Source:
Mint will stop making pennies this fall - *Federal Budget - Money - MSN CA
Well that is some good news I guess
I think I will give my penny jar to a Local Charity or something to alteast do something good with them.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
