The Great Penny Debate

[4X4]

Is on QR77 right now. I want to hear it and will comment after it's over.

I personally think it's long overdue to get rid of the penny. The NDP MP that was interviewed says that it costs more than $.01 to produce a penny. He also said that pennies made prior to 2000 were 98% copper. Pennies made since then are 94% steel and 6% copper.
I must be living under a rock because I was totally unaware that the price of copper has apparently skyrocketed. With that in mind, rounding up all the 20 billion (according to that same guy) pennies in circulation would mean that the government is sitting on a huge chunk of change (no pun intended).

As for whether we'd get fleeced by store owners rounding up, the MP said he did a study on Australia and NZ which have both eliminated the penny and apparently it works quite well.

As for charity... The show is back on and I want to listen.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

get rid of them! I was in Australia 10 years ago and they had already gotten rid of them. just rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents. they are pointless to use...

[Engine09]

Phase them out.

I have about $20 in rolled pennies sitting in a cupboard, not even worth the hassle to take them in.

Is there a charity I can donate them to? Who accepts rolled pennies?

[edn88]

... and are nickels really needed? Let's go right to round to the nearest dime...

[habernac]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Phase them out.

I have about $20 in rolled pennies sitting in a cupboard, not even worth the hassle to take them in.

Is there a charity I can donate them to? Who accepts rolled pennies?

If they're rolled, take them to the bank, they'll take 'em.

[Salt Water Cowboy #10]

Originally Posted by Kryzsky

Phase them out.

I have about $20 in rolled pennies sitting in a cupboard, not even worth the hassle to take them in.

Is there a charity I can donate them to? Who accepts rolled pennies?

good idea. Have charities do all the final penny counting for the gov. and get rid of them. I'm sure plenty of people would donate their jar of pennies to charity

[4X4]

So the question was raised whether this will have negative implications on charities. I'm sure that most people do what I do and drop pennies into those charity boxes rather than let them pollute the change bin in the ashtray.

Rob Breakenridge made a good point when he said that the smart charities would appeal to the public to give them their pennies rather than roll them themselves and cash them in. I know I would. I probably have $20 in pennies that I wouldn't bother rolling myself.

[mykalberta]

Totally agree, time to oust the penney.

[CaptainCrunch]

I've been tossing pennies into a big water bottle for about 10 years, The thing now weighs a metric tonne, and there are probably several thousand in there.

Too lazy to roll them I guess.

If I ever lose my job, thats my unemployment bucket.

[Engine09]

If they're rolled, take them to the bank, they'll take 'em.

Yeah, I know. But it hardly seems worth the hassle taking up a teller's time for some pennies. Nickles and dimes are easy, I roll those up and fill my motorbike up with gas.

[Canada 02]

how much copper is mined/refined (or whatever it is) in Canada? How many companies depend, at least in part, on the Canadian Mint? How many jobs would be affected?

[HelloHockeyFans]

The key is to use your pennies and keep them on you, as opposed to collecting them in some giant bottle/box 'cause it'll just be a pain to roll/get rid of/lug around.

I get rid of mine quite frequently 'cause of regular purchases like the extra large coffee I get twice a day which comes to $2.21.

[Canada 02]

for retailers, how would this affect sales? I mean they purposely mark items, for example, $9.99 instead of $10 because there is a psychology behind the way consumers react - they obviously believe that customers will be more inclined to make a purchase no matter how ridiculous the one penny savings really is

[blankall]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

how much copper is mined/refined (or whatever it is) in Canada? How many companies depend, at least in part, on the Canadian Mint? How many jobs would be affected?

If our economy is so desperate that we need to make up fake jobs, lets find a slightly more usefull industry to make up jobs in.

Get rid of the penny. This is long overdue.

[4X4]

Originally Posted by fotze

Why would a charity wnat to do all that work when they could just hire a company to phone thousands a people per day. I wish I could get the odd bottle drive coming through once in a while.

OT, but don't you live inner city? What I do with my bottles is set them beside the dumpster. They're gone within 15 minutes.

[Canada 02]

Originally Posted by blankall

If our economy is so desperate that we need to make up fake jobs, lets find a slightly more usefull industry to make up jobs in.

Get rid of the penny. This is long overdue.

i'm not an advocate one way or the other; just posing questions. However, copper mining is hardly a fake job, or an insignificant industry espeically in this country. The cost of making the penny, and the inconvienece to consumers needs to weighed against the importance of this industry, jobs, tax revenue generated, retail implications etc

[Dion]

Originally Posted by HelloHockeyFans

The key is to use your pennies and keep them on you, as opposed to collecting them in some giant bottle/box 'cause it'll just be a pain to roll/get rid of/lug around.

I get rid of mine quite frequently 'cause of regular purchases like the extra large coffee I get twice a day which comes to $2.21.

I do much the same. Instead of putting the extra pennies and such in a jar at home i leave them in a small container in my vehicle's center console. Any time i go into a store to buy something i grab a handful of pennies and stuff them in my pocket to help pay for any products i may buy. Any left over pennies goes into the penny tray beside the till.

[Bill Bumface]

Originally Posted by edn88

... and are nickels really needed? Let's go right to round to the nearest dime...

Agreed. How many purchases do you ever make that are less than 50 cents?

You could even keep certain items priced below 10 cents, like let's say a thumb tack in bulk for 3 cents a piece, but your purchase is always rounded to the nearest 10.

For example, 1 thumb tack costs 10 cents, three thumbtacks also cost 10 cents.

[Bring_Back_Shantz]

Originally Posted by Canada 02

i'm not an advocate one way or the other; just posing questions. However, copper mining is hardly a fake job, or an insignificant industry espeically in this country. The cost of making the penny, and the inconvienece to consumers needs to weighed against the importance of this industry, jobs, tax revenue generated, retail implications etc

1) The copper idustry is I'm sure providing copper for many things other than pennies.

2) In the OP it says that there is barely any copper left in pennies anyway

3) Even if the copper industry was dependant on the penny, keeping it around for the sake of those jobs, is still jobs for the sake of jobs, and if it's inefficient, the effort should be spent somewhere else.

[troutman]

My "two cents":

Do we even need coins or cash anymore? Seems I use debit for almost everything.