The Canadian penny? Could you blame a bus driver for refusing to allow you to put a couple hundred of them into the fare box?
A growing number of economists and bankers are urging the Canadian government to give up the penny, as the U.K. gave up the farthing and, later, the halfpenny.
Both Australia and New Zealand removed their one- and two-cent coins in the early 1990s. New Zealand went one step further in 2006 and demonetized the five-cent piece.
In Canada, the Currency Act says, "A payment in coins … is a legal tender for no more than … twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent." No one is legally obligated to accept more than 25 pennies at a time.
The Royal Canadian Mint produces about 816 million pennies per year. It's estimated that there are 20 billion Canadian pennies — 600 for every one of us — in pockets, jars, fountains and piggy banks in 2007.
Full Story
Is it time to get rid of the penny?
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A growing number of economists and bankers are urging the Canadian government to give up the penny, as the U.K. gave up the farthing and, later, the halfpenny.
Both Australia and New Zealand removed their one- and two-cent coins in the early 1990s. New Zealand went one step further in 2006 and demonetized the five-cent piece.
In Canada, the Currency Act says, "A payment in coins … is a legal tender for no more than … twenty-five cents if the denomination is one cent." No one is legally obligated to accept more than 25 pennies at a time.
The Royal Canadian Mint produces about 816 million pennies per year. It's estimated that there are 20 billion Canadian pennies — 600 for every one of us — in pockets, jars, fountains and piggy banks in 2007.
Full Story
Is it time to get rid of the penny?
More...
