A penny saved

It was sad to see the final process of the end of the penny this past Monday. Although the last penny was stamped out at the Canadian Mint last May, its use continued until this week when the distribution of the copper (really only copper-plated metal) ended.

The first Canadian cents minted (pre-confederation) in 1858 had the head of the young Queen Victoria, and were British Colonial coins issued under the Province of Canada. The original penny was larger than those today, about one inch in diameter. Similar in size to the British half penny and it wasn't until 1908 that pennies were minted in Canada. They have marked historical changes over their 155 years.

With the succession of each new monarch new coins were produced. The head of King Edward VII adorned the penny from 1902 to his death in 1910. A new die was cast when George V succeeded his father as king. His head adorned the penny until his death in 1936 when he was followed by his son Edward VIII as king. The penny was never minted with the image of Edward VIII as later that year after becoming King he expressed his interest in marrying divorced American Wallis Simpson. Edward chose love over kingdom and abdicated the throne to his younger brother George VI. The vision of George VI appears on coins minted up to 1952 when he died and was succeeded by the present Queen Elizebeth. The profile of the present Queen has appeared since 1953 - 60 years.

As of Feb. 4, 2013, many business began to phase out the penny completely. Purchases will be rounded up and rounded down to the nearest nickel on cash purchases. No more digging for that penny you need and know must be there somewhere.

The penny will be missed by many as a symbol of our youth. But as always, times change. The days of the penny candy have been gone for a long time. I am not sure there is anything out there anymore that can be bought with a single penny. The penny has been something that floats around in the bottom of my purse for a long time now. Only to be dumped into a jar at the end of the day. Now there's a question - what to do with those hundreds of pennies we have stashed away for a rainy day?

Will my grandchildren (if I ever have any), look for the lucky "nickel?" Will a nickel saved be a nickel earned? As the lowest denomination of our coinage, will the nickel also fall by the wayside in the near future?

If I make a purchase and my change should be $1.02, and the store rounds down, where do the two pennies go?

There will be many expressions that will become meaningless - "worth every penny", "a penny for your thoughts", "the cat is like a bad penny it keeps coming back". And will everyone be willing to toss a nickel or a quarter in the fountain to make a wish?

I am sure in time we will not notice the absence of the penny in our lives. Life goes on and moves forward to bigger and better things.

I have to agree it made no sense (no pun intended) to continue to produce a penny that cost us 1.6 cents to make. Our neighbors to the south will continue to produce the penny even though it costs the U.S. Mint approximately 44 million dollars each year. Australia, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, the Netherlands and Sweden have already phased out their pennies.

The penny will not likely disappear too quickly as Canada still has roughly 35 billion pennies in circulation. They likely will remain in circulation for several years, slowing being collected and going one by one into a foundry to be melted down and recycled. So we say goodbye to the penny.

Perhaps we just need to do some updating.

See a nickel, pick it up, All day long you'll have good luck. Give it to a faithful friend, Then your luck will never end.

Seems to work.