Monday, February 4, 2013

The Penny...dropped

This is where Phylly gets all sentimental about  pennies.  Why?  Because as of Feb. 4, 2013 the Canadian penny will no longer be included in our national currency.  I can't say I didn't see it coming.  They've been talking about getting rid of it for years.  But being a history buff, I hate to see the demise of such a colourful symbol of our country.

The last Canadian penny rolled off the production line at the Canadian Mint in May of last year.  But the termination of the penny from use in stores was postponed until after the Christmas season. Apparently it costs more to produce a penny than it is worth.  It isn't even made of copper anymore (other than an thin outer coating) but is mostly just steel.

Although I can understand the practical reasons for doing this, it doesn't make it easy to accept.  I know that Australia got rid of their penny coin years ago and doesn't seem to miss it.  But change is not easy, and making change will be much more complicated... by rounding up and rounding down!


 I am not as happy about the situation as this guy obviously is, but
I certainly couldn't explain this situation any better than he does!



Since there will be no more new pennies minted,
I guess if you are a Penny Lover  you will have to get your Pennies from Heaven!

I'll never forget this unusual musical 
Pennies From Heaven 
starring Steve Martin and Bernadette Peters.

Pennies From Heaven
(Scene with Steve Martin and Vernel Bagneris)



This next video is my favourite song about a penny.  (I didn't think The Beatles' Penny Lane should count because it's about a place, not the currency.)  I do love the harmony of The Bee Gees and this song is from the almost unknown album Mr. Natural, but it has some great songs on it.


Throw a Penny / Bee Gees


I suppose what  saddens me the most is the loss of understanding of all those great sayings about pennies.  How will future generations understand them if they don't know what a penny is?
Here are some sayings about pennies.

The most well known saying became the plot of an episode of The Twilight Zone back in the '60s.

The Twilight Zone: A Penny for Your Thoughts



A penny for your thoughts Mr. Armitage
FAULT magazine photo shoot 2012



Here's a Penny that I'd like to see in circulation!
Priceless!

5 comments:

Trudy said...

I didn't know they will soon be a collector's item!
I grew up on the border (Erie, PA) and we constantly found maple leaf pennies mingling with our copper colored Lincolns. :)
Recently, I had my ten year old counting pennies for a paper roll and he found a Canadian one (I'm in California). I'll have to keep it for good luck.
As for a coin with RA's profile? I agree - perfect!

Phylly3 said...

Hi Trudy! We also have American coins mixed with our Canadian ones. We use both here without worrying about it.
I have a small penny collection but I doubt if it will be worth anything in my lifetime.
Still, I hate to see them go.
Thanks for commenting! :)

Traxy said...

There are so many coins in the UK it would be a good idea to give up the penny here too! I mean, 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2. You can't get anything for 1p anyway!

In Sweden, they've only got 1kr, 5kr and 10kr coins. There used to be a 50 öre (0.5kr) before, but they got rid of that in 2010. The 10 öre coin was got rid of in 1992. Both the 5 and 25 öre were taken out in 1984, if I understand the Wikipedia table correctly. Considering 1kr is currently worth about 10p in the UK, you can see why. There's just no point in making coins of such small values.

Saying that, what would the value of the RA coin be? Priceless? ;)

Phylly3 said...

I think it is sad that inflation has lessened the value of some coins to almost nothing.
I needed the 1p coin in England to add up to the right amount in order to use the Public toilets in the airports and train stations. I forget if it was 2 or 3p? I thought it was weird to pay for a washroom but not for a bus downtown. There were lots of free tour bus rides (which was very nice), but I'd still rather not pay to pee! :D

Collar City Brownstone said...

This is just too weird to me.