Canada Ditches Its Penny
Canada will say goodbye to the penny this fall. As Finance Minister Jim Flaherty explained, “The penny is a currency without any currency in Canada, and it costs us 1.5 cents to produce a penny.”
Of course, Canada isn’t the only country to abandon the penny.
A government statement said New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and others “have made smooth transitions to a penny-free economy.”
So why does the U.S. still use pennies? Well, that’s complicated. Back when he was a presidential candidate, Obama did say, “We have been trying to get rid of the penny for some time.” But now the administration is simply looking into cheaper ways to produce the penny, which is currently made of zinc.
