# The Penny Debate - Canuck Edition **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 10:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208 "2012-03-29T22:20:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/41 "2012-04-05T02:25:23Z")
> [@Hypnagogic\_Jerk](#): > > I think you can ask for them in banks. Right now they’re basically never used, but if the 5 and 25 cent coins were withdrawn we’d start minting them in greater amounts and they’d become more popular. I got some from the bank once (for kicks) and I got one in change once, I think. I didn’t like the design though – it looked too much like a quarter. ---
**Author:** ![Napkin\_Sandwich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/8dc957/32.png) [@Napkin\_Sandwich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napkin_Sandwich)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/42 "2012-04-05T03:26:49Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > Make the quarter a fifth, worth 20 cents. Australia has 5c, 10c, 20c, 50c, $1 and $2 in coin. I vaguely remember the $1 and $2 notes from childhood, and I remember the phasing out of the 1c and 2c coins. The only place that I try and eke out my extra rounded-down 2 cents is at service stations. I feel a stupid sense of triumph when My $50.02 of fuel only costs me $50. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/43 "2012-04-09T15:35:43Z")
Apparently our new [quarter](http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/quarter+features+glow+dark+Alberta+dinosaur/6429029/story.html) will feature a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur; how cool is _that_? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/44 "2012-04-09T18:49:55Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > Apparently our new [quarter](http://www.ottawacitizen.com/technology/quarter+features+glow+dark+Alberta+dinosaur/6429029/story.html) will feature a glow-in-the-dark dinosaur; how cool is _that_? What the…? Are the people making our currency getting ideas from cereal-box prizes? But yeah, it’s kinda cool. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/45 "2012-04-09T19:23:41Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > What the…? Are the people making our currency getting ideas from cereal-box prizes? > > But yeah, it’s kinda cool. Heh too bad it won’t be showing up in our change … it’s $30 a pop. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/46 "2012-04-09T19:32:20Z")
Yeah, I was disappointed to see that these weren’t meant for general circulation. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2012, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/47 "2012-04-09T22:00:23Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m against it. It would be better to slide the decimal to the right one place and make pennies worth 10x what they were. > > What’s the value of starting down a path where eventually the smallest coin in circulation will be the $1000? This. There are a multitude of cultural references to the penny. They won’t just go away but why disassociate them from everyday life when it is so easy to adjust the currency? (Which has the added bonus of driving out hidden cash profits from illegal businesses as they have to exchange before the old bills are no longer legal tender.) Adjust the currency whenever values inflate over a certain degree and you can keep the economic references the same as well. Then you wouldn’t have to listen to old people talking about how they remember when they could buy a new car for $20. ---
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/48 "2012-04-10T00:16:01Z")
So easy? Is it easier to issue all new currency, or just stop making irrelevant portions of it? ---
**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 10, 2012, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/49 "2012-04-10T03:54:23Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > What the…? Are the people making our currency getting ideas from cereal-box prizes? > > But yeah, it’s kinda cool. Next thing you know, the Queen will have ruby laser eyes… ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/50 "2012-04-10T05:45:31Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > So easy? Is it easier to issue all new currency, or just stop making irrelevant portions of it? Given that neither are particularly difficult perhaps outcome oriented discussion is more pertinent. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/51 "2012-04-10T14:41:08Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > I’m against it. It would be better to slide the decimal to the right one place and make pennies worth 10x what they were. Currency reevaluation is something you do when an economy is pretty much collapsed anyway. Doing it in Canada would be an unmitigated disaster that would make what-we-do-with-the-penny discussions look like pretty small potatoes. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/52 "2012-04-10T14:42:42Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > Given that neither are particularly difficult perhaps outcome oriented discussion is more pertinent. The problem is the transitional phase. There is tons of existing currency in circulation. Replacing it all would be an enormous expense and hassle. Merely ceasing to produce new pennies, in contrast, costs nothing. ---
**Author:** ![Enderw24](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ba9def/32.png) [@Enderw24](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enderw24)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/53 "2012-04-10T17:07:11Z")
We already do round purchases. If you buy an item on sale for $9.99 with a 8.77% tax, it comes out to $10.866 for your purchase. That rounds up to $10.87. But if half-pennies were still around, it would only be $10.865. I’ll bet that never once, in the history of all your purchases, have you ever pondered whether you’re getting screwed out of that .5 cents thanks to merchant rounding. ---
**Author:** ![2sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/e47774/32.png) [@2sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2sense)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/54 "2012-04-10T18:52:51Z")
> [@Malthus](#): > > The problem is the transitional phase. There is tons of existing currency in circulation. Replacing it all would be an enormous expense and hassle. Merely ceasing to produce new pennies, in contrast, costs nothing. ## Enormous to you and I, surely. But Canada has over 33 million people and a GDP of over a trillion and a half dollars. What is the cost of exchanging currency compared to that? Surely dropping the penny is easier and if you only are willing to look at that half of the equation then there can be no doubt that that is the way to go. So again I point out the usefulness of an outcome oriented discussion. > [@RickJay](#): > > Currency reevaluation is something you do when an economy is pretty much collapsed anyway. Doing it in Canada would be an unmitigated disaster that would make what-we-do-with-the-penny discussions look like pretty small potatoes. What makes you think it would be so difficult? And are the benefits I’ve outlined illusionary that they would mitigate nothing? ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2012, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208/55 "2012-04-10T19:16:24Z")
> [@2sense](#): > > - > > What makes you think it would be so difficult? And are the benefits I’ve outlined illusionary that they would mitigate nothing? Simply removing the penny will save us about [$11 million dollars per year](http://economywatch.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/03/30/10941329-canadians-say-goodbye-or-adieu-to-the-penny) I can’t find any figures on what a complete revaluation of currency, including collecting ALL circulating coins and bills, and re-minting/printing a whole new set of currency would cost. I think it would cost a fair bit. I don’t care if it would be small compared to the entire GDP of the country - it would still cost us. Now, let’s look at the benefits of revaluation as you’ve outlined them: 1. We could keep the multitude of cultural references to the penny. 2. Revalution would drive out hidden cash profits from illegal businesses as they have to exchange before the old bills are no longer legal tender. 3. You wouldn’t have to listen to old people talking about how they remember when they could buy a new car for $20. #1 and #3 are merely “feel-good” benefits, and are not worth any cost in my opinion #2 - I’m not convinced that hidden cash profits are enough of a problem, or that revaluation would be a complete and total solution to this problem. So in conclusion - No. The benefits that you outlined are not worth the cost and pain of revaluation. Not even a tiny bit. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-penny-debate-canuck-edition/617208.md?page=2)