Why has Canada been rendered penniless? February 4th marked the withdrawal of the one cent coin from circulation. Why is our beloved copper currency disappearing? The fact that its cost of production is far greater than it’s monetary value and that inevitable inflation has left the penny virtually unusable in small quantities are largely contributing factors. Sadly, penny candies are quite rare. Although pennies will no longer be distributed to financial institutions and transactions will be rounded, pennies are still being accepted as viable currency. The history of the penny will live on through a mural consisting of almost 16,000 of the copper coloured coin in Canada’s Currency Musuem.
The Canadian penny has gone through quite the evolution up unitil its recent demise. The first penny was made by Canada’s Royal Mint in 1908 out of 95.5% copper. The composition was changed to 98.4% zinc (with copper plating) in 1997 and was changed to steel by 2000. The penny’s name most likely originated from the Old English word penig/penning and cent from the Latin word centum, or one-hundreth.
Finally, here is a list of my favourite penny idioms to commemerate all its years of faithful service:
- Penny for your thoughts
- A penny saved is a penny earned
- Penny-wise, pound-foolish
- Costing a pretty penny
- Bad pennies always turn up
- Without two penneis to rub together
- In for a penny, in for a pound
