# Should the US adopt Canada's pennies? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [April 15, 2014, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207 "2014-04-15T21:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207/41 "2014-04-19T02:14:02Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Seriously? Wow. When the lira was replaced by the Euro in 2002, the exchange rate was 1€ = £1 936.27. So, yes, a cup of coffee would likely set you back a couple of thousand lira. The smallest note was £1 000. > **[Italian lira](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_lira)** > > Kingdom of Albania (1939–43) >  San Marino (local issue: Sammarinese lira) > The lira (/ˈlɪərə/ LEER-ə, .mw-parser-output .IPA-label-small{font-size:85%}.mw-parser-output .references .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .infobox .IPA-label-small,.mw-parser-output .navbox .IPA-label-small{font-size:100%}Italian: \[ˈliːra\]; pl.: lire, /ˈlɪəreɪ/ LEER-eh, Italian: \[ˈliːre\]) was the currency of Italy between 1861 and 2002. It was introduced by the Napoleonic Kingdom of Italy in 1807 at par with the French ... ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207/42 "2014-04-19T02:22:25Z")
Interesting, thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207/43 "2014-04-19T02:59:39Z")
> [@bob\_2](#): > > Does the US mint actually have to stamp out many pennies these days? We still use pennies in the UK (worth about 1.68 cents) but the only time they are ever needed is because of the stupid shops that insist on pricing things at £x.99. I too have a couple of jars full which I will get around to sorting out one day. > > As a matter of interest - what do shops in Canada use these days? $x.98 Or $x.75? Rounding only occurs on the total purchase, so there was no need to change the cents in the price. ---
**Author:** ![Northern\_Piper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/northern_piper/32/5304_2.png) [@Northern\_Piper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Northern_Piper)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207/44 "2014-04-19T12:33:23Z")
Plus, the federal GST and the provincial sales taxes are not built into the price, but are added at the till, so there’s no point in trying to set the price in a round number. ---
**Author:** ![CarnalK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnalk/32/486_2.png) [@CarnalK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CarnalK)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2014, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207/45 "2014-04-19T14:35:02Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Except to take them to the bank, but that doesn’t seem to occur to anyone. Or, if you don’t mind using one or two at a time, you can play my rounding game. > > I spent 2ȼ yesterday in the self-checkout at Safeway. My total was $9.49 and I paid $10.07 (cash, coins first), causing it to round up my change by 2ȼ. So my two pennies turned into four cents! I am a genius! Wealth and power will soon follow. There’s another technique you can use on your way to wealth. Since the rounding to a nickel only happens on cash purchases, you should pay cash when the rounding is going to be down and debit card when the rounding would go up. This is my main retirement savings plan. ☹ [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/should-the-us-adopt-canadas-pennies/686207.md?page=2)