Pennies rolling closer to extinction - The Montreal Gazette

[Copper Catcher]

What about the boy who lugged $50 worth of pennies he'd saved to proudly drop into a Salvation Army kettle at Christmas?

Or the flustered man holding up a lineup at a till while he fished for a penny in his briefcase to pay for a muffin -$1.61 when tax is added?

Then there's the fact that you can't pop a penny in a bubble gum machine anymore and expect to get anything. Bubble gum costs a quarter these days.

Those are among the scenarios presented in recent days to the Senate finance committee during hearings on whether the Canadian penny should be eliminated.

"Canadians have a real affinity for their coinage," testified Darren Hannah, a vice-president of the Canadian Bankers Association. "Whether it is the lucky loonie at centre ice in the Olympics or the commemorative quarters, Canadians identify with their coinage as a symbol of what makes Canada great."

But the penny? Not so much.

"I do know, as a consumer, that if you are standing in a lineup and you have people in front of you groping for pennies trying to make that transaction, you get annoyed because they are slowing everything down," said Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers' Association of Canada. "As far as we can see, there is absolutely no downside to eliminating the penny. Unequivocally, please, let us eliminate the penny."

Ditto from Kim Lockie, president of the Canadian Automatic Merchandising Association. "No one in our industry uses pennies anymore," he said, referring to vending machines.

Sometimes members of his association volunteer to use their machines to sort pennies collected in charity drives, hauling them in half-tonne trucks. A tonne of pennies is worth between $1,000 and $2,000, he said. It's barely worth the trouble, so he'd rather just cut the charity a cheque and pitch the pennies.

There are an estimated 20 billion Canadian pennies out there, the senators have been told, with countless quantities piled up in dresser drawers, yogurt tubs and piggy banks.

When Michael Maidment's 5-year-old son heard his dad say the Canadian penny may go the way of dodo, he worried aloud to his mom that "I won't have money for my piggy bank."

Maidment, an official from the Salvation Army, testified before the committee yesterday about whether the absence of the penny would hurt the charity's iconic "Christmas kettle campaign" where people donate millions of dollars worth of coins to help the needy every year.

Maidment doesn't believe it would hurt, for the same reason he gave his son not to worry about his piggy bank: "There will be many other coins to fill his bank. The five-cent piece will still be there. I think the nickel will take over the penny spot if it in fact disappears."

Read more: http://www.montrealgazette.com/Pennies+ ... z12Xn77kay

[fasTT]

"I do know, as a consumer, that if you are standing in a lineup and you have people in front of you groping for pennies trying to make that transaction, you get annoyed because they are slowing everything down," said Mel Fruitman, vice-president of the Consumers' Association of Canada.

I get much more annoyed when someone has to use a debit card on a small purchase, or worse, 2 or 3 credit cards hoping one will work.

[JobIII]

Hey those debit cards sometimes give you rewards. If you're in the position to help your credit score (in some cases) or earn savings why not do it?

Earning Credit card / debit rewards aren't that different from what penny / silver searching. We're all just trying to squeeze money out of money.

[centavosdecobre]

The only thing I know of here in the U.S. that can be purchased for 1 penny is a U.S. postage stamp at the post office.