Our Penny Heads into Retirement

I thought this was worth posting. I can just see myself 7 years from now answering Hugo's question -- "Mom when did the penny go out of circulation, I need to know for this project I am working on ...".

Sorry quality is poor ... took the photo quickly with ipod

Our Canadian penny gets one step closer to extinction today (Monday, February 4, 2013) as the Royal Canadian Mint officially stops distributing them.

Businessess will now begin to round cash transactions to the nearest 5 cent increment. Should be interesting to see how this will work out.

I found it interesting that Google's Doodle even paid tribute to the Canadian penny today, as it goes out of circulation. The penny in the image spins. Here's a screen shot.

 

 

Some Interesting Facts:

•  There are 35 billion pennies still in circulation
•  It cost 1.6 cents to make each penny --  production cost exceeds its monetary value
•  Once the pennies are all melted down there will be 82-million kg of metal which will be recycled.