But she promises to change!
The US, however, has never demonitized anything.
Stupid Ottawa, take away her ability to suffer recession, give her a man-made river and a French twin, and she thinks she’s above the law.
Somehow I doubt this means I’ll be able to get all the 1 cent stamps I want for free.
You can, if you get them one at a time. 
There’s a subtext here for me, something I’ve been fretting a lot about lately. It’s this: every rational analysis says ditching the penny is the right thing to do – and every other country that’s gone through the exercise has had good results from it – and yet we in the States don’t do it, and won’t do it. I’m beginning to see a pattern in this country where we refuse to take even the most simple steps that rationality demands.
I’m pretty sure it’s because it’s against the constitution.
Or maybe because that’s not what the founding fathers would have wanted.
Or maybe because the bible told you so.
It’s usually one or the other, or a combination of all three.
I went into Shoppers Drug Mart today, and at the till saw these signs. The cashier said that, after Monday, Shoppers would not be handing out pennies.
Love it!
Not only will we never get rid of the penny, I wouldn’t even be surprised if congress decided to bring back the halfpenny.
There was something similar in BC Liquor, but isn’t Monday the official day everywhere?
This morning’s new included an announcement that the treasury would no longer distribute pennies. They stopped minting them almost a year ago and, I guess, they have finally run out.
If a merchant wants to incur my ire by making an extra 3 or 4 cent profit, go ahead.
As noted above, at most it would be two cents. But then half the time, you’ll be getting an extra two cents. Or if you care that damn much, pay with a card.
Personally, I plan to do just that – but only in the round-up cases. In the round-down cases, I’ll pay cash, and save myself a cent or two. You’ve got to be frugal on a student budget!
Well, it’s good to know that on Monday, when I hand over $5 for my afternoon large coffee at the local coffee shop (cost with tax: $2.36), I won’t get four pennies back with my other change. I’ll get a nickel.
Now, what to do with all these pennies…? 
Coinstar!
Er, I mean, take them to the bank? My impression is that there is nothing preventing anyone from continuing to accept pennies from customers, and continuing to give them out; just that there will be no more fresh supplies of pennies from banks. If a business wants to rely on what pennies it has on and and can get from customers, fine. But how many people were actually paying with pennies? What was the rate of penny input versus output at a typical business?
I don’t know. And I know the penny will never be demonitized. They will always be worth something.
But it will be nice when I do not have to take four pennies among my change for my coffee.
I’m glad our Canadian cousins are seeing sense and getting rid of 1c pieces - I’m still astounded the US has them, since you can’t buy anything with them.
Australia & NZ got rid of theirs years ago and, as several of my fellow countrymen have observed, the sky did not fall and its worked out extremely well generally, IMO.
This evening I experienced my first rounding. Instead of receiving four cents in change, I received a nickel. I felt guilty about this. I guess that makes me Canadian.
Just the blue haired change purse set in the grocery express line.