Nickel for your thoughts.
The old saying may need some updating if the Royal Canadian Mint decides to ditch the penny, as a major financial institution is suggesting.
A recent survey conducted by Desjardins Financial Group shows only 37 percent of Canadians still pay with pennies and the organization is suggesting we ditch the one-cent coins, following in the footsteps of countries like Australia and New Zealand.
There are few things, if any at all, you can purchase with a single Canadian cent. Long gone are the days of penny candy, penny matchbooks and penny arcades. A one-cent stamp even costs more because of the tax.
The coinage also costs more to produce than it's actually worth. Desjardins estimates that producing pennies and keeping them in circulation costs Canadians an estimated $130 million per year.
There are about 20 billion one-cent pieces in circulation yet the Canadian government continues to issue about 820 million a year to replace the ones tossed in fountains and thrown out.
"If you put them side by side you can go from St. John's, Newfoundland and return," the study's co-author JP Aubry said.
The way Canucks use the coins varies depending on age and gender. The study found that women tend to root around in their wallets to pay with change more often than men and older people tend to pay with change more often than younger folks - one quarter of young people (18-25) questioned said they use nickels while 75 percent of people aged 66 to 75 use the five cent coin.
The poll was conducted in 2006 and surveyed 658 people from across the country.
For those who are worried that removing the penny from circulation could increase prices, Desjardins' Economic Studies Department Vice President and Chief Economist Francois Dupuis claims that wouldn't be the case.
"Cash transaction amounts would be rounded symmetrically to the nearest five cents. For example, transactions where the final price would be $9.98, $9.99, $10.01 or $10.02 would go for $10.00. Those of $10.03, $10.04 or even $10.06, would go for $10.05," he explained.
While they may not make much sense economically, some Torontonians are still mixed as to whether we should say goodbye to the coin altogether.
"I use very few of them, but they do come in handy every now and then. So it's important to have a couple pennies," university student Adenieki Heslop said Friday.
"Plus they're good for good luck."
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Friday that he'd be sad to see the penny go.
"I'm a coin collector from way back and I'd hate to lose the continuity of the penny," he said.
Some penny facts:
A 4-litre pickle jar can contains:
-4,992 pennies = $49.92
-8,400 dimes = $840.00
-3,411 quarters = $852.75
More than 60 percent of coins processed are pennies
To find out how to recycle your coins for bills,
click here.
Courtesy of the Royal Canadian Mint
The first Canadian cents were apparently created back in 1858.
If you don't use your pennies in the stores, you could use the mintage for revenge.
A Welsh man tried to pay a 650 pound fine in one pence pieces. A court banned him from using the small currency so he's decided to pay the fee in five cent pieces instead.
Michael Reese attempted to pay the fine for a careless driving conviction with monthly installments of 4,000 pennies.
He said he'd paid off 540 pounds of the fine with wheelbarrow loads of pennies, but authorities refused to accept any more, citing the 1971 Coinage Act which states that bronze payments of more than 20 pence don't have to be accepted as legal tender.