Canada Eliminates Penny Costing Penny-and-a-Half to Make

[pizzadude]

Anyone think that the US will be next to ditch the cent ?

The penny, with two maple leafs on one side and Queen Elizabeth II on the other, can continue to be used in payments. As they are gradually withdrawn from circulation, price rounding on cash transactions will be required, the government said.

The calculation of the federal goods and services tax and provincial sales taxes will continue to be calculated to the penny and added to the price, with rounding only taking place on the total payment.

Non-cash payments on checks and credit cards will continue to be rounded to the nearest cent.

“If businesses round cash transactions to the nearest five-cent increment, any gains or losses relating to cash transactions (a maximum of two cents per transaction) will balance out over time,” the government said in its budget documents.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-29/canada-eliminates-penny-that-costs-penny-and-a-half-to-make...

[marty56]

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@pizzadude wrote:

Anyone think that the US will be next to ditch the cent ?

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They way we print money, I'm thinking the $1 bill is more fair game.

[Roarmeister]

The US cent costs 2.6 cents to manufacture while the base metals are only worth about 0.7 cents.  The question should be "why hasn't the US looked at dropping the penny as well?"

Personnally, I can't wait to get rid of the penny AND the nickel like New Zealand did.  Heck, even dimes are nearly worthless because I can't use them in parking meters.  All my pennies, nickels and dimes go into a drawer earmarked for CHARITIES.

[bichonmom]

I still pick up pennies on the ground. Money is money. If you guys don't want your spare change, you can send it my way!