Canada's Penny No More, Feb 4, 2013

That's it for Canada's penny: Today is the last day the coin will be distributed after minting stopped in May as a cost-saving measure. Still, there are 6 billion pennies in circulation, so they could be around for a long time: "We estimate three to four years" as they are pulled from circulation, says a Royal Canadian Mint rep. For cash shoppers, that means prices will be rounded up or down to the nearest nickel; for those paying by card, prices won't change, the Province reports.

Consumers can drop pennies off at their local banks, donate them to charities, or use them at stores' discretion, the Globe and Mail notes. Just 52.9% of Canada's Retail Council members are ready for the shift, the council found. Some 81.5% think it'll cost them no more than $5,000. As for consumers, "the net impact ... is that it balances out," says an analyst.
An Introspective World reflects on more than 150 years of Canadian pennies:

• The first was minted in 1858.

• Since 1908, 35 billion have been minted—enough to circle the Earth 16 times.

• A 1936 one-cent coin known as the Dot is worth a lot more than a cent: One recently sold for $402,500.

On a separate note, today's Canadian Google doodle features a penny, the Global News reports.

Now how long until the Nickel, Dime and every other physical currency go the way of the penny. We all know electronic transfers are the way of the future, well today has been a significant stepping stone in my opinion.

We can also look forward to the United States discontinuing the penny. Will the news of US penny discontinuation receive as much media attention as that of the Canadian penny? We expect the US to cancel the penny program before 2014 and move on parallel with Canada in eliminating the coinage currencies from circulation.

It is for the best to progressively eliminate the coin currency from circulation. As everyone over 18 is eligible for a debit/credit card the need for physical currency becomes redundant, aside from children and people with bad credit, nobody should be without some sort of electronic payment capability.

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Related Posts
Last Days of the Canadian Penny
March 30, 2012

Ottawa Keeping Penny Alive Till 2013 to Appease Retailers’ Concerns
July 31, 2012

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Storing Coins

A cool and creative way to store your coins.
For collectors, hobbyists and everyone in between.

My Great Weekend

A group of bandits robbed the Royal Bank of Canada yesterday. They took 73 hostages in total and had the building locked down. Hostages were sure the robbers would start executing hostages if they didn't get the money, the bank manager could not open the vault and it seemed none of the hostages were getting out alive

I was walking by the bank and decided to pick up a set of the new Bicentennial of the War of 1812 toonies. I found the door locked but I could clearly see people moving around inside, so I had decided to walk through the wall and see what was happening. I approached the leader and asked him where the manager could be found, he was shocked and enraged that I wasn't on the floor with the hostages, so he started shouting and waving a gun in my face, telling me to get on the floor with the others. It was at this point that I realized what was going on, so in response to his manors, I swiped the man's gun from his hand and killed all the robbers. Killed them all with one bullet. I didn't use the gun, I just removed a single bullet from the chamber, pushed the bullet into each of the robbers' heads and listened to the sweet sound of bodies hitting the floor.

The police showed up about 10 minutes later, but by this point the hostages had been untied and begun moving outside in a calm, orderly line. As thanks for stopping the robbers and saving everyone, the CEO of the RBC gave me a free sheet of 1812 bicentennial commemorative toonies.

It was a nice day!
Thanks RBC.

Ottawa Keeping Penny Alive Till 2013 to Appease Retailers’ Concerns

Canada's one-cent coin has been granted a brief reprieve from the scrap heap in order to placate retailers worried about a lack of pennies during the busy holiday season.

The federal government announced Monday it is postponing plans to stop circulating pennies this fall and will instead end distribution on Feb. 4, 2013.

As they disappear from circulation, Canadians will be forced to round off cash transactions to the nearest nickel.

“The revised date was set following initial consultations with small business and retailers who requested the transition date occur after the busy holiday shopping season,” the federal Finance Department said Monday.

“This will ensure all those participating in the transition will have ample time to prepare their business, train staff and better inform consumers.”

The federal government stopped minting new pennies this past April, ending close to 150 years of Canadian penny production, but it is still ensuring there's a fair supply of the coins by distributing them to banks and other financial institutions.

The Harper government announced earlier in the spring that it was scrapping the penny, ending production of a coin that weighs down consumers' pockets while adding little to their purchasing power.

Back then, Ottawa had announced it planned to turn off the supply tap of pennies in the fall.

Karen Proud, vice-president of government relations for the Retail Council of Canada, said the new February deadline – after the Christmas shopping period – gives merchants more breathing room “so our members can really prepare and be ready and so that the consumer doesn't see any sort of chaos at the cash.”

She said retailers are pretty happy the changeover doesn’t come at “their busiest time of year.”

It costs Ottawa 1.5 cents to make each penny and eliminating this coin will save taxpayers $11-million annually.

Ottawa has suggested businesses round off cash transactions to the nearest five-cent increment but says it is leaving this to merchants and consumers to work out for themselves.

This rounding off would occur after taxes had been applied to the purchase and would not be necessary for credit or debit transactions.

The Royal Canadian Mint produced 660 million pennies in 2011, federal officials said.

Canada is hardly alone in scrapping the penny. At least 17 countries have ceased production of low-denomination coins over the past four decades.

Ottawa says it won't be policing consumer-business transactions, but added that “businesses are expected to round prices in a fair, consistent and transparent manner.”

It couldn't guarantee consumers would be better off, but cited a 2005 Bank of Canada study that concluded the inflationary impact of eliminating the penny would be “small or non-existent.”

The government doesn't know exactly how many pennies remain in circulation, including those piling up in jars or cans. It noted that the study, by Desjardins Group, estimates Canadians could be hoarding several billion pennies.

Federal officials said more than 35 billion pennies have been minted in Canada in the past 104 years. This, they've noted, would weigh 94 million kilograms. – or as much as 1,500 Leopard 2 tanks.

The federal government is encouraging charities to collect pennies from Canadians and redeem them through banks and the mint as a fundraising venture.

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Related Posts
Last Days of the Canadian Penny
March 30, 2012

Canada's Penny No More, Feb 4, 2013
February 4, 2013

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By Design?

Copper Pennies + Clear Resin = Beautiful Floor.
 
If you want to try this: Save this picture and go to your local Home Improvement store and ask them what type of Clear Resin would work the best and what kind of under-lament would be needed. In this picture they had a concrete floor to work with. Yes, it would be cheaper than the average floor, if you did the work yourself. The price, including the cost of the pennies would probably range from $2.50 to $3.50 a square foot. 


Using pennies would be cheaper than tiles, easier to work with, flush and level. As well as the finished floor surface looking fantastic.



While your considering redecoration, take a look at this creative storage space solution.

Using ceiling rafter in the garage is common practice for home owners. But installing a simple sliding rack onto the ceiling is a great idea. Replacing the conventional basement/garage storage method of piling boxes and storage containers, cramming far too many things into a closet, never to open it again in fear of a land slide.


Utilizing the unused ceiling space is a move in the right direction toward creative storage space solutions that our perpetually accumulating and hoarding society desperately needs.


But, is the right course of action to improve personal storage space practices? Wouldn't this just allow people to hoard even worse? 

Instead of having boxes stacked from the floor to the ceiling, is having them from the ceiling to the floor better in any way? It might even be worse because a ceiling can only support so much weight before a bolt comes loose and containers fall on someone. 


However, back to the bigger issue at hand, the majority of modern societies have developed into an ever consuming cluster of individuals. Some would call it capitalism, however capitalism is merely a small part of the greater picture.


There are many triggers and causes that lead individuals to accumulating an excess of possessions. Nature, nurture, psychological, biological, impulsive buying, special offers, fear of not having enough and so many more.


There are so many levels of degree to which, over accumulation, hoarding, obsession, etc. can be analyses, debated, discussed and repeated. Every possible contributing factor, psychological, sociological and anthropological can to be analyzed. 

In the end serious professional expertise is needed to gain a better understanding of why people simply, want more. As countless other questions raise controversy and debate. Contributions from many fields will be supported. But ultimately there will be no perfect answer, no solution, at best we can work towards managing both the physical problems of spacial restrictions and the psychological perplexity of our reach extending our grasp.

Last Days of the Canadian Penny

Canada is scrapping the penny, ending production this year of a coin that weighs down consumers’ pockets while adding little to their purchasing power.

The government announced in Thursday’s federal budget that it will shortly jettison the one-cent coin – a casualty of Ottawa’s drive for efficiency and thrift.

“It costs taxpayers a penny-and-a-half every time we make one,” Finance Minister Jim Flaherty told the Commons, adding the move will save taxpayers $11-million annually.

Mr. Flaherty, whose department described the penny as a “nuisance” in budget documents, said the 2.35-gram coin is now more trouble than it’s worth. “Pennies take up too much space on our dressers at home,” Mr. Flaherty added. “They take up far too much time for small businesses trying to grow and create jobs.”

The last one-cent coin will be minted this April, ending what federal officials say is close to 150 years of Canadian penny production. The Royal Canadian Mint will stop distributing pennies to financial institutions in the fall of 2012 and the government will work to withdraw one-cent coins from circulation. The increasing scarcity of pennies means Canadians will have to get used to cash transactions being rounded off if they’ve got no pennies on hand.

A study by one Canadian financial institution, Desjardins Group, estimates the economic costs of the penny for the private sector total $150-million annually. This includes counting, storing and transporting the coins.

The government had no estimates Thursday on how many pennies remain in circulation, including those piling up in jars or cans. It noted that the study by Desjardins Group estimates Canadians could be hoarding several billion pennies.

Federal officials said more than 35 billion pennies have been minted in Canada in the past 104 years. This, they noted Thursday, would weigh 94 million kilograms – or as much as 1,500 Leopard 2 tanks.
The federal government says it will encourage charities to collect pennies from Canadians and redeem them through banks and the mint as a fundraising venture.

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Related Posts
Ottawa Keeping Penny Alive Till 2013 to Appease Retailers’ Concerns
July 31, 2012

Canada's Penny No More, Feb 4, 2013
February 4, 2013

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The Million Dollar Coin – a true milestone in minting

Million Dollar Coin

Incredible, but true: in 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint produced the world's first million dollar coin. The 100 kg, 99999 pure gold bullion coin with a $1 million face value was originally conceived as a unique showpiece to promote the Mint's new line of 99999 pure 1 oz Gold Maple Leaf bullion coins. After several interested buyers came forward, the Mint decided to make a very limited quantity available for sale. To date, five of these majestic gold bullion coins, weighing 3,215 troy ounces each, have been purchased by investors from Canada and abroad.


In October 2007, the Million Dollar Coin was certified by Guinness World Records to be the world's largest gold coin. The coins are manufactured at the Mint's Ottawa facility, where the Mint operates world-class gold and silver refineries, securely stores gold bullion and mints all Royal Canadian Mint gold bullion products and collector coins.


The reverse features an elegant, hand-polished maple leaf design by Royal Canadian Mint artist and senior engraver Stan Witten, and the obverse bears the effigy of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II by celebrated Canadian portrait artist Susanna Blunt.


Why did the Royal Canadian Mint make the world's purest and largest gold bullion coin?
Because we can.

Specifications:
Face value: $1,000,000
Composition: 99999 fine gold
Weight (in troy oz.): 3215
Weight (kg): 100


Definition of 99999 purity  
Gold (Au) which is 99.999% pure is defined as having a total of less than 10 parts per million of the following elements: Ag, Al, As, Bi, Cr, Cu, Fe, In, Mg, Mn, Ni, Pb, Pd, Pt, Sn, Si, Ti, Zn and Zr. This refers to the bulk material below the coin surface.