I remember my father with his neat stacks of coins lined up on the kitchen table, ready to roll up into coin wrappers of every denomination.

Quarters, nickels, dimes and, of course --- lots and lots of pennies!

He had a lot of patience sorting and counting the change and I admired how he managed to stuff those neat stacks of coins into the little paper wrappers with expert precision.

Now, many banks across the country are rolling out coin counting machines to offer convenience for all that spare change laying around the house.

What do you plan on doing with all your hard-earned pennies during the great Canadian penny phase out?

It seems like my change purse -- which was usually overflowing with pennies -- is becoming void of one-cent pieces.

I seem to be taking out my debit card a little more than usual -- especially if the store is rounding up and I will be short-changed so to speak.

It appears Canadians aren't ready to stop pinching their pennies quite yet.

In what could turn out to become a long goodbye, a new BMO Bank of Montreal report has found that many consumers are not ready to bid farewell to the beloved one-cent piece.

In fact, 73 per cent of those polled in the survey conducted by Pollara expect retailers to continue to accept pennies for their purchases at the check-out counter.

We won’t be penny pinching anymore — we’ll be nickel and diming it.

The Canadian penny’s days are numbered. On Feb. 4, consumers, businesses, charities and financial institutions are encouraged to start rounding off cash transactions.

That’s the date the Canadian government has set to phase out our penny and the date when the Canadian Mint will no longer be distributing the much loved one-cent piece. The final penny was actually minted last spring.

Earlier this month came one of the more peculiar money tales of the still-young year, a news story that featured the words "trillion-dollar platinum coin" and no sense of accompanying irony.

In fact, the suggestion was very real: to address mounting national debt in the U.S., some pitched the idea of the Treasury Department minting a platinum coin worth $1 trillion, marching it over to the Federal Reserve and depositing it. Presto. Debt crisis solved, right?

Of course, the platinum coin pitch met plenty of resistance. Many dismissed it entirely, while those that didn't questioned its legality.

Well, everyone can just can it about the coin. It ain't happening, officially now, says the U.S. Treasury Department.

For the past few days, there's been this wild money story out of the U.S., though you'd be forgiven if you haven't read much on it.

It's a tale so crazy that few mainstream media outlets have given it note, and perhaps when we look back that will be the narrative's most resounding legacy.

But here it is, nonetheless: as the U.S. continues on mired in debt, some have taken to suggesting the Treasury Department mint a $1 trillion platinum coin to avoid hitting the debt ceiling.

No, no, take your time. We'll wait while you roll your eyes. Yet the idea of minting a 13-figure coin actually has some powerful people discussing it, and even some who suggest it could work.

At first glance, the bill you see below is a fine counterfeit, boasting the colour, texture and feel of a real $100 American note.

Though, wait a second. That’s Ben Franklin in the centre, sure, but squint real hard and look to the right. See that watermark? That sure looks like Abe Lincoln, doesn’t it?

Yes, that’s the boondoggle one Arizona counterfeiter committed late last month, when he was spotted passing the bogus bills at three stores in the Grand Canyon State.

Cops never caught him, but police did end up getting their hands on these other dumb counterfeiters.

Of all the bizarre economic indicators out there – and there are plenty – sometimes it is the world’s crooks that paint the best picture.

Late last year, while Research In Motion was in freefall, a headline out of New York reported not even crooks wanted a BlackBerry, spurning a good mugging if the target wasn’t handling an iPhone.

It was a goofy, isolated story, but then maybe it wasn’t. Unfairly, it was also a pretty good microcosm for the entire RIM descent.

In any case, of all the indices damning the crisis of the euro, perhaps we need look no further than how Europe’s counterfeiters see the currency.

Canada’s new polymer $100 bills cost 19 cents each to produce, which is about twice what the Canadian Benjamins used to cost when they were made of paper.

It’s with good reason, at least, by the Bank of Canada’s measure.

The plastic-like bills are said to last 2.5 times, or nearly two decades, longer than paper ones, and that’s where their true braggadocio lies: you (allegedly) can’t rip them, tear them or wreck them in the washing machine.

Maybe, but like countless rappers have found in the past, these $100 bills might literally burn a hole in your pocket.

They say 90 per cent of Canada’s population lives within 160 km of the U.S. border, so what’s that mean?

A steady stream of Canuck license plates heading south, in search of savings.

Certainly, cross-border shopping is the timeless affair generations of Canadians enjoy, though perhaps it costs our country much more than a couple runs to the outlets and a stop at Target.

According to new figures from the Bank of Montreal, cross-border shopping costs Canada more than $20 billion each year.