# Ottawa plans to kill the penny **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212 "2012-03-29T22:58:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/1 "2012-03-29T22:58:44Z")
In other coin-related news, the Federal government has announced that it will end production of the Canadian one-cent coin starting in fall 2012. Prices will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. [Link from the CBC.](http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2012/03/29/federalbudget-flaherty-penny-cent.html) ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/2 "2012-03-30T00:00:37Z")
Last time I proposed this for the US, someone told me stores would round ALL prices up to the next 5 cent level. Countdown to crazy: conspiracy theories commencing in 5 … 4 … 3 … ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/3 "2012-03-30T00:33:11Z")
The Penny Plunderer will have his day! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/4 "2012-03-30T01:55:56Z")
Here’s the official announcement from the Ministry of Finance: > [@](#): > > The Royal Canadian Mint (the Mint) will cease distribution of pennies to financial institutions effective fall 2012. The cent will continue to be Canada’s smallest unit of currency for pricing goods and services, and pennies may continue to be used in cash transactions to make exact payment or change after the fall of 2012. > > Where pennies are not available, cash transactions should generally be rounded up or down to the nearest five-cent increment in a fair and transparent manner, after calculation of Goods and Services Tax (GST)/Harmonized Sales Tax (HST), where applicable. > > Non-cash payments, such as cheques, credit cards and debit cards, will continue to be settled to the nearest cent. > > After the Mint ceases distribution in the fall of 2012, businesses will be asked to return pennies through their financial institutions to the Mint for melting and recycling of the metal content. The Government will work closely with financial institutions to coordinate this penny redemption program. Charities are welcome to take advantage of the penny’s withdrawal to increase their fundraising through penny drives. [Link.](http://www.budget.gc.ca/2012/themes/theme2-eng.html) I will not be surprised to see retailers announcing no-penny policies. > [@Askance](#): > > Countdown to crazy: conspiracy theories commencing in 5 … 4 … 3 … Well, let’s see. Eliminating the penny? Check. Introducing polymer banknotes? Check. Road trains sighted in Ontario? Check. Use of metric? Check. We’re only a mob of kangaroos and a new accent away from being Australian! ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 2:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/5 "2012-03-30T02:46:25Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > We’re only a mob of kangaroos and a new accent away from being Australian! You could do worse: you could get rid of your nickles and be like the New Zealanders. ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/6 "2012-03-30T13:40:31Z")
So few transactions are in cash that this will have no practical effect. As long as sales tax is in effect, the cent will hang around since merchants cannot round those amounts. Bus fares in Montreal are already stated in fractions of a cent. And I never understood why merchants would piss off potential customers by rounding up. The amounts involved are trivial and the customers’ wrath is not. If I were a merchant, I would put up a big sign saying that I was always rounding down. (This might, of course, be accompanied by a small price increase, but no one will notice since prices are always increasing.) ---
**Author:** ![Shakester](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shakester/32/437_2.png) [@Shakester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shakester)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/7 "2012-03-30T17:34:41Z")
I explain this every couple of months, when this subject is raised here. I am Australian, I’ve been living in a smallest-change-free world for a couple of decades now. When we ditched the 1c and 2c coins, in 1992, **20 years ago** , the gov’t supplied a simple formula: Prices ending in 1 or 2 are rounded down, 3 or 4, up. 6 or 7, down. 8 or 9, up. Civilisation did not collapse. Nothing happened except that we now don’t have to fuss with worthless copper coins. It’s all good. There were a few dickheads who couldn’t compute that the formula means that they “win” as often as they “lose” a few cents, but everyone ignored them. They got used to it. No one wants to bring back 1c and 2c coins. **No one**. Not even paranoid conspiracy buffs. Now there’ll be two pages of Americans claiming that it can’t be done. We **did** it, 20 years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/8 "2012-03-30T18:17:50Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > Now there’ll be two pages of Americans claiming that it can’t be done. We **did** it, 20 years ago. I’m going to preempt them by saying that I’m an American who really wishes we’d do it. While we’re at it, I’d like to ditch the $1 bill for a coin. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/9 "2012-03-30T20:45:29Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > When [Australia] ditched the 1c and 2c coins, in 1992, **20 years ago** , the gov’t supplied a simple formula: > > Prices ending in 1 or 2 are rounded down, 3 or 4, up. 6 or 7, down. 8 or 9, up. This is exactly the formula recommended by the Canadian government. The Finance Ministry mentioned learning from the Australian experience in their backgrounder. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/10 "2012-03-30T20:50:28Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > As long as sales tax is in effect, the cent will hang around since merchants cannot round those amounts… Actually, the rounding takes place on the final amount, _after_ tax is added. If the customer is paying by debit card, etc, there is no rounding. Only cash transactions get rounded. I think that there would have to be a final, optional, step added to the transaction and printed on the receipt though, after the customer indicates the method of payment. “If cash, indicate rounded amount and print that.” How is this handled in Australia? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/11 "2012-03-30T22:18:52Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > How is this handled in Australia? From a recent supermarket receipt: [QUOTE=Coles Supermarkets Australia] Sub Total … $17.37 Rounding … -0.02 Total for 9 items … $17.35 [/QUOTE] ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/12 "2012-03-30T22:27:23Z")
Those Bastards! They killed Penny! ---
**Author:** ![tellyworth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/977dab/32.png) [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)\ **Post date:** [March 30, 2012, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/13 "2012-03-30T22:31:14Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > I think that there would have to be a final, optional, step added to the transaction and printed on the receipt though, after the customer indicates the method of payment. “If cash, indicate rounded amount and print that.” > > How is this handled in Australia? The un-rounded amount is shown as a subtotal on your receipt. If you’re paying by cash, there’s a 1 or 2 cent rounding adjustment shown just before the final total. As far as tax is concerned, retail prices in Australia always include sales tax (10% GST). If the price tag says $10.00, that’s what you pay at the checkout. So there’s no additional complication from that. Businesses that deal with a lot of cash typically pre-round all their prices - a cafe wouldn’t price their coffees at $2.99, they’ll be $2.90 or $3.00. For the most part the only places you see prices with odd cent amounts is supermarkets and some department stores. (And even then, some department stores have recently started pricing everything at even dollar amounts). ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [March 31, 2012, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/14 "2012-03-31T23:47:53Z")
Now all threads from Dopers from Canadia will be officially centsless… ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/15 "2012-04-01T03:03:06Z")
> [@jasg](#): > > Now all threads from Dopers from Canadia will be officially centsless… :: runs screaming from room :: ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/16 "2012-04-01T03:22:23Z")
Wish they’d do something similar with the Euro. 1c and 2c are just useless. ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [April 1, 2012, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/17 "2012-04-01T18:06:25Z")
But they’ll never disappear. Because they have been talking about this for over a decade. Everyone I know has a big pile of pennies, some where in their house. My husband has enough to make a battleship! ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/18 "2012-04-02T03:53:26Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > But they’ll never disappear. > > Because they have been talking about this for over a decade. Everyone I know has a big pile of pennies, some where in their house. > > My husband has enough to make a battleship! Ironically, just before I saw this story, I has cleared the pennies out of my coin pouch and was planning to take them to a bank or Coinstar to get rid of them… ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 4:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/19 "2012-04-02T04:23:38Z")
Penny is the only reason I watch that show. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2012, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212/20 "2012-04-02T06:07:49Z")
> [@elbows](#): > > Everyone I know has a big pile of pennies, some where in their house. Evidence that they’re not necessary and are just clutter. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/ottawa-plans-to-kill-the-penny/617212.md?page=2)