A month ago the Canadian government abolished the penny! That's right . No more pennies for Canada.
The penny cost 1.6 cents to produce so to cut out the penny would save the government money. Now what could I buy for a penny? I couldn't come up with an answer. In fact, what could I buy for 2,3,or 4 cents. I don't think we've been able to buy anything for a penny for a long time. The penny now has been used to set a neat sounding price like $4.99. So you come home every day and empty your pockets and the penny jar gets fuller each week. So I don't think the penny will be missed for monetary purposes.
The government stopped making pennies on the day of the announcement. Pennies will be accepted in business for some limited time. Fund raisers have been quick to latch onto a good idea. Many penny jars have been set up for various charities to raise money. I noticed that the jars all had tons of pennies.
Now one of the things not considered in doing away with the penny is the place it has in our language. Many sayings have been generated around the penny. The word penny is of British origin. Americans have chosen to use the term cent. Sayings that may die are: Penny or your thoughts; Shiny as a new penny; Cost a pretty penny; A penny saved is a penny earned; In for a penny; A bad penny always turns up; Penny ante; See a penny, pick it up, all day long you will have good luck. I would think these sayings would disappear over time. When the penny has been gone for several generations the use of these terms in our language will probably disappear.
So a sad good bye to the penny which was sort of the work horse in our money system. How soon will it be before we discard the nickel?
There has been talk of eliminating it here in the states too...hadn't thought about all the sayings that grew up around the penny! Interesting...
ReplyDeleteI'm sure your penny will also disappear. Can you tell me what you last bought for less than a nickel??
ReplyDeleteCan't remember the last thing I bought for less than a nickel, but I do have a question... If it's a "penny for your thoughts" and you put "your two cents in", where does the extra penny go? Someone is making a mint on those exta pennies!
ReplyDeleteOnly you could come up with a line like that. I had a good loud chuckle over that one. Thanks.
DeleteOoh I really hate getting 4 cents back in change and then my penny jar would just get bigger n bigger. I remember all the sayings or most of them - have even used a lot of them myself. I always carried extra pennies in my purse, hoping not to get any back - you know the .33 or .06 etc,etc
ReplyDeleteYahoo, gone. Nice Post Red
I live with somebody who tries to pay the 4 pennies rather that get 4 back. The sayings are common and I'm sure there are more than I found.
DeleteI usually get rid of pennies and find them to be a nuisance. How will they ever get past the 9.99 cost of things, making me believe I'm not spending an entire $10? Probably $9.95 until they discard the nickel, as you said, Red. :-)
ReplyDeleteFor a techie like you there is a chip that will be in your cell phone and you will pay with that and not carry cash. Sweden is far advanced in the use of the chip. Check it out.
DeleteOnce upon a time in England we used to have a Half Penny which got shortened to Ha'penny.
ReplyDeleteThe expression I recall related to this old coin was a piece of advice to young ladies :
"Keep your hand on your ha'penny!" ;)
Curious as to when the half penny was abandoned? Was it when the money changed to tens?
ReplyDeleteWell, now that Canada has done so, I'm sure our government will follow. The nickle is probably next.
ReplyDeleteLinda
http://coloradofarmlife.wordpress.com
http://deltacountyhistoricalsociety.wordpress.com
The nickel could go. The last thing I remember buying for a nickel was an ice cream cone in the late 40's.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss the penny and don't doubt the nickel and dime will be next.
ReplyDeleteI'll miss the penny but only for sentimental reasons.
DeleteComing to your neighborhood: a chip in your phone that you can use in your daily shopping...no more cash!
Now that would bring a whole new world of worry to losing your phone or having it stolen.
DeleteI will be sad when the U.S. finally gets rid of our penny.
However, just because they don't make them, doesn't take them out of circulation for a long time. There's a lot of pennies out here.
Excellent post!
We have a penny jar at the museum. I had them take it to the bank, it had 140.00 worth of pennies..we bought some UV Film for windows. I would be sad to see the penny go:(
ReplyDeleteLoss of the penny is the least of your worries. Before I die we will be a cashless society. Just a little chip in your phone and of you go.
DeleteI feel sure the U.S. will follow at some point. I did find a brand new shiny penny in the parking lot the other day though. You don't usually see any other coin on the ground. People just don't stop to pick up a dropped penny.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your visit.
Not only will your penny disappear but evreything else will disappear. We will become a cashless society
DeleteI'll miss that little penny in some ways, but mostly I'll be glad not to have it in my wallet. And I can never walk by one on the ground without picking it up for luck. My Dad taught me that one when I was very young!
ReplyDeleteYour world will fall apart when you don't have a penny to pick up. No more luck for you!
DeleteThoughtful post, Red. Typical, you think of the language around the event. Good thinking. Just like 'walking a mile', walking a km doesn't quite feel the same!
ReplyDeleteWhat else,
'album', rather than CDs. :-)
Our language is full of great sayings. Interesting point you bring up about the measurement sayings. I'm sure you'll come up with a good post on the topic some day!
ReplyDeleteGood thoughtful post, Red. Worth a penny for your thoughts.. at the very least. ;)
ReplyDeleteI just found your blog thanks to The Smitten Image and I think it's great. I just read your post about the penny and it reminded me of an article I posted at Chubby Chatterbox on 9/15/11. I hope you'll come for a visit, and if you do, hit the join button and I'll return the favor. Have a great week.
ReplyDeleteThe Smitten Image is one of my favorite blogs. The Smitten Image has great photography and neat themes to go along with it. Thanks for taking a look at my blog. I will visit you shortly.
Deletekinda sad. enjoyed this. came over from hilary's. congrats on your POTW!
ReplyDeleteThe loss of the penny is a sentimental loss but in practical terms it had to go. Thanks for visiting and the congrats. You brought the news of POTW to me as I had not looked at the Smitten Image yet. A nice surprise to wake me up in the morning!
DeleteCame over via Hillary and what you write makes a lot of cents. Although many of the items in the U.S. are $#.99 cents. They would have to make it $#.95!
ReplyDeleteLike your play on words! I like your optimism that the price will go down. I hope it does.
DeleteA favorite saying by my Grandfather was ,"Pennies make you dollars."I would hate to see them go, I have a few 1/2 penny pieces that were once used in the states.
ReplyDeleteGood example of a penny saying. The half penny is a great one to have in a collection. Must be extremely rare. Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House.
DeleteIf only our government was that smart! Here in the U.S., they'd announce the idea of abolishing the penny and then there would be a big hullabaloo... and nothing would be done. (Actually, I think that has already happened. We're still spending more on making pennies than they are worth.)
ReplyDeleteThanks to Hilary for sending me your way, and congratulations on your POTW!
I have a high regard for Hilary's blog. Thanks for the congrats.
DeleteAs a Canadian I find your comment very interesting on the function of your Govt. However, most Americans I meet are completely reasonable and don't like how their politicians perform.
My daughter lives in Chicago so I have more than a passing interest in the U.S.
Thanks for visiting Hiawatha House. I will visit your site shortly.
Stopping over from Hilary's. Congrats on your POTW.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know your penny was gone... That's kind of sad. I always liked finding pennies for "good luck".
Sigh.
jj
Thanks for dropping by Hiawatha House and for the congrats.
DeleteAll kinds of sentimental reasons to keep the penny but no practical reasons. Sorry about your luck!
I'm here from Hilary's, as well! Congrats on the POTW...well deserved. Practically speaking, I wouldn't mind if they abolished the penny here in the States. Just my 2 cents :-)
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Hiawatha House. Love your sense of humor with "2 cents worth."
DeleteGood God!
ReplyDeleteOne cent and two cents coins disappeared here in Australia years ago, first the useless one cent, then the two cent, and soon I suspect the 5 cent! They buy nothing here and I suspect the same in Canada and the USA.
The stores still have products marked as eg: $10.99! Stupid, that means $11.00! So a supermarket visit with eg: a bill of $40.22 is rounded off as $40.00. A bill of $40.98 is rounded of as $41.00. They do have a problem with the bill at $40.23 and $40.77! It is a bloody joke! These bills either go up or down.I have been told it is a taxation trick!
I have accepted this 1 and 2 cent business, and I would like to see the useless 5 cent go the same way.
Here, in Australia, the paper $1.00 and $2.00 notes have been replaced by coins, happened years ago. So we have Dollar notes of 5,10,20,50 and 100. ( Not to be advised walking around with a wallet of the 100's).
I am absolutely amazed at this startling Canadian and USA news. Incredible and amazing news.
Colin
Thanks for the detailed account of Australian cash. We ditched the one and two bills a ling time ago. We now have the "Loonie" and the "toonie"
DeleteDidn't know you had a 2 cent piece. Strange bit of rounding for prices. why don't they just get over it and price without the penny?
Aw, I would mourn the loss of that , too. But then, in fairness that's also coming from someone who still remembers the thuppence, sixpence and the half-penny, too.. (and I still don't considere myself THAT old, at 52..
ReplyDeleteYes , your money has been changed for a long time. I'm familiar with those as my wife spent her younger years in England.
ReplyDeleteGood idea with the penny jars! I'd say that this fate will gradually meet all the little-value coins. In the Czech Republic, we have crowns - each crown consists of 100 halers. Coins with the least value were 10, 20 and 50 halers, then one crown. A few years ago, the coins of 10 and 20-halers were abolished, only the one of 50-halers remained. Nevertheless, prices stayed as before so you can have price of 2,70 or 3,20 and the sum is always rounded either down or up to the nearest 50 halers or crown - in this case the total would be 6 crowns. First it looked a bit weird but it was good that prices didn't rise that much and we all got used to it.
ReplyDeleteThanks for visiting Hiawatha house. Your the first Czech to comment. Cool! Interesting to hear about the parts of your currency. I guess the Czech Republic is not in the European union or you would use their currency.
ReplyDeleteSee my next post on Cashless society and I have covered some of your other points on currency.
Red, thanks for your nice welcome :-) The Czech Republic is a member of the European union but doesn't use euros. Euro isn't used in all the European union, just in the countries of eurozone. There are plans for the CR to join the eurozone too but I prefer it this way. We'll see.
ReplyDeleteOkay, I understand. It's like England where they have their own currency.
ReplyDeletewith the way globalization is going one wonders how much will be joined like the European Union. The global companies control our governments.