Canada Gets Rid of the Penny
The Royal Canadian Mint will end production of the penny this fall thanks to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s austerity budget, and he told reporters Friday that the coins are a “nuisance.” “The penny is a currency without any currency in Canada, and it costs us 1.5 cents to produce a penny,” he said. He went on to say that during a Senate committee hearing last year, not one witness said the penny should be spared, and that New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and other countries have transitioned to being penny-free.