Canada Getting Rid Of Pennies, Plans To Save $11 Million Per Year

Canadian officials are taking the saying “penny pinching” to a whole new level, announcing plans to remove the low denomination currency completely from their monetary system.

According to current numbers the Royal Canadian Mint currently makes 25 pennies annually for every single Canadian, at a cost of $1.5 cents per penny produced that’s quite the price to pay for a low denomination coin.

The government and its banks will start to pull the penny out of circulation this fall and it estimates that the move will save $11 million per year in production costs.

The move is also expected to save the private sector millions of dollars more in transportation and counting costs associated with the currency.

The countries finance minister said of the money:

“The penny is a currency without any currency.”

He went on to call the coin a “nuisance” and urged Canadians to give up the coins rather than hoarding them for personal collections. As the finance minister urged:

“Free your pennies from their prisons at home, and donate them to charity.”

To make up for the loss of the currency government officials are urging businesses to round transactions to the nearest nickel however businesses will be able to decide for themselves how they handle the loss of a currency that has been part of their transaction systems for decades.

In the meantime Canadians have plenty of other coin based options including the Loonie ($1 dollar coin) and Twoonie ($2 dollar coin) to choose from.

Do you think the US should be the next country to give up pennies?