If it goes, would anyone miss the penny?

I read this morning that the main reason to scrap the penny is because it costs 1.5 pennies to produce a penny. This simple cost-benefit equation can be sufficient to decide that it's not worth having it. And, in today's business world the value of the penny is very minimal. But, the fact that the Senate has gathered several times to decide the fate of the penny is what makes me want to laugh! Imagine the amount of money being spent on those manhours!!!

So now we hear that the senate finance committee has concluded what the average canadian has known for 20 years... that the penny is as useless as they are! I wonder if this bit of brilliance was precipitated by a flicker of fiscal responsibility (unlikely), a concern for general opinion and desire(doubt it), or (and most probably) the fact that the banking piglets don't like handling this particular form of fiat currency and therefore directed their political flunkies to abandon it. Think I'll bet on the latter. Maybe it's because it will supposedly save $131 million and the political piglets can use that to further increase their already bloated pensions? More than likely though, the government will piss away millions on further useless CYA studies and then introduce a really bad program that will somehow cost us a few hundred million due to their gros incompetence. As for rounding up or down... WHO CARES....just get it done you idiots!

The amount of money that can be made by counting pennys is allot.
A few years back a bank emploee funnelled the percent amount from transactions that were less
than a penny into his account and the amount totaled millions... now funnel three cents and see
how much it adds up to! Keep the penny you don't have to make more if it cost more than the value
or make them of a cheaper material.

I'd be happy to see the penny go...But if they are going to keep it, change it to paper money = cheaper to make, and would guarantee they'd get rid of it fast, just because of the inconvenience :-)

if i go to the dollar store and buy something for a dollar, how does the 12% HST work? do i pay $1.10 or $1.15?

YES! Cut down the trees to make worthless currency- than will show them!

Why jump directly to nickel? Since 1 penny costs 1.5 pennies why not make a 2enny at the cost of 1.5 pennies?

we can't have 2 cent coins. It will be sooner than later that it will cost more than 2 cents to make the penny and we will back to where we started. Besides how accurately has the government been able to estimate the REAL cost of production... I say they have under budgeted by a few cents hahah.

I also say good riddiance - it's money better spent elsewhere, even if I do have to spend 2 extra cents on a coffee once in a while. Just learn what to order so that the rounding will always be down! :D there's always a way around it if 1 or 2 cents REALLY makes a difference.

Discontinuing the penny is okay, as long as the merchants and governments do not abuse it. By that below half a cent and lower round it down and above round it up.

How is this going to affect inflation? Are the mechants going to round DOWN, I highly doubt it!!

I think everyone is missing the real issue here. The system is setup to make people use plastic. Every transaction with a debit card or credit card makes the banks money. This is not about the cost of physical currency for its production. This is about eliminating physical currency so the banks make more money while limiting the difficult to track hard currency transactions. If the problem is the cost of the metal used to make the currency, then they should change the metal they use. That's what they did with all the 80/20 silver currency they struck between 1935-1967. The cost to produce a penny would be a lot less if it wasn’t made out of the primary metal used in consumer electronics.

I WOULDN'T MISS A PENNY ESP WHEN I HAVE THOUSANDS IN MY STASH AND THERE ARE MILLJONS OF PEOPLE WHO WILL NOW SAVE AN AMOUNT OF THE PENNY FOR THE FUTURE SHOW AND TELLS.THIS TIME OF YEAR I LIKE TO SEE A CHECK IN THE MAIL FROM HST OR WHATEVER TAX BREAKS WE GET FROM THE GOVERNMENTS AND IF THEY QUIT DOING NEEDLESS STUDIES ABOUT SOMETHING LIKE GETTING RID OF THIS PENNY AND STOP WASTING MILLIONS TO SEE IF IT IS FEASABLE THEN MAYBE IN THE NEW YR OR SOMETIME SOON WE WILL BE GIVEN ANOTHER ONE OF THOSE CHECKS FOR ELIMINATING THE PENNY.ALL I ASK OR SUGGEST TO THE NUMSKULLS WHO ARE MEETING TO DECIDE IS MAKE THE NEXT MEETING ON IT BE THE LAST ONE SO WE CANADIANS CAN BENEFIT AS MUCH AS WE CAN FROM ELIMINATION OF A CURRENCY COSTING US MILLIONS A YEAR.HAH! AND YOU CANADIANS THOUGHT US NEWFIES WERE SAVED OUR PENNIES FOR CHRISTMAS...LOL:)))0

If the cost/benefit ratios have been calculated properly, I say get rid of it. I read a question above regarding purchasing somethign for a dollar with 12% HST. In this case, I would assume that it would be rounded down to $1.10 to the consumer. Obviously there is 2 cents unaccounted for by the merchant that would still have to go to the government. However, the law of averages would suggest that there would be just as many purchases that would require the merchant to round up, therefore covering the difference. However, I am sure merchants are savy enough to price their merchandise in a way that is most beneficial to their bottom line.
Overall, a penny not made is a penny saved to the tax payer. If 131 million dollars can be used for health care or for infrastructure programs to cut down my commute to work...be rid of the coppers!

Losing the penny is a good thing -
After living in Australia some time ago, they seem to have it figured out -
anything you pay cash on gets rounded. ie - $1.12 = $1.10 and $1.13 = $1.15. It all evens out in the end.
On the other hand, if you're paying debit/credit for anything, nothing would change - you would pay the exact amount.

now, if we can only get grocery stores like loblaws to provide fuel vouchers for spending x amount of dollars at their stores to be used at their gas stations, life would be perfect!

I think SeeAScam is a little off the mark and looking for a conspiracy when there really isn't one. True, banks make money off of the people that use them. But to say that we are moving towards a system of "no hard currency" is stretching the truth considering fiat money is needed to control many aspects of our economy. Albeit, I believe we may be gearing up for a switch back to the gold standard as the American Dollar is losing its gusto, or at least a fiat system that does not revolve around the USD. But that is a different topic for another day. Being rid of the 1 cent denomination does not denote that we will be getting rid of all hard currency. We are simply switching to a consumer system where the second decimal is either a 0 or a 5.
The trend of using a bank card or visa to complete your personal transactions has been in play for a long time and has more to do with personal preference. If you like to carry cash and pay cash, no one is stopping you. There are plenty of bank accounts out there that would allow you to have your money directly deposited into your account, withdraw all that money and not suffer a service fee for one transaction. Once you have the cash, you won’t be bothered with receiving or paying with a useless denomination.

No penny candy!! The joy of all those penny's, not practical to keep them but sad all the same. Just keep an eye on the 131 mil, between the studies, reports, etc I can see that ending up in peoples pockets, and not the taxpayers!! How many pennies is 131 million dollars!!!!!!!!!

whats next ?the nickle,then the dime.Until the change in your pocket is gone....THEN WATCH THE ECONOMY GO FOR SHITS. BECAUSE EVERY THING WILL GO UP AND THE POOR WON'T AFFORD THE SIMPLE PRICES WE CAN AFFORD!!!!!

I've seen people paying for small items in stores not wait for their change. That rarely or never would have happened a few decades ago. I've seen cups in stores where people just leave them. Also, after buying gas a few times ( I pay with cash), I stood there waiting for my three or four cents change back..they look at you like you're from Mars. (I no longer own a car, nor do I want one)

The way I see it, they get too much as it is, I'm not about to make them even richer. I wonder how much $ is left in change by consumers each year? Millions maybe.

If you don't like them, they would make a big difference if there was a way to get all the unwanted ones to a charity each year.

Those that don't want them would be doing a good deed by passing them onto a charity every year. Or is that too hard to do once a year?

Once the penny is gone everything you buy will be rounded up not down. Retailers will price products so with tax the product will come out at 3 cents so they can round up to 5 cents. Just like metric we got smaller containers but paid the same.

Yes Scott, as inflation is a relatively certain constant, it's fair to say that the 5 cent or dime could be gone at some point in the future. It's also fair to say that the loonie could metaphorically be the new pennie in 100 years. Unless the economy stays static, then currency will continue to change. The poor are already affected by the cost of consumer goods that has more to do with how our dollar stacks up against other world currencies (imports/exports etc...) that has nothing to do with HOW we pay for our groceries. As mentioned above, hopefully by getting rid of the 1 cent, the government will pump the money that would have been used to produce the penny back into the system which "potentailly" could be used for social services that help the poor.

by the time its looked after as to the cost "penny wise and pound foolish"once again raises its head