Bob CollinsCanada has made a bold and obvious decision and life seems to be going on just fine today. Canada is going to get rid of the penny.
It costs 1.6 cents to produce a penny in Canada and if there’s one thing Canadians appear to be good at, it’s math.
“Some Canadians consider the penny more of a nuisance than a useful coin. We often store them in jars, throw them away in water fountains or refuse them as change,” a government report said.
Case closed. No whining. No nostalgia. Just a business decision.
Why can’t the United States do that?
The U.S. penny costs 2.4 cents to make but a few congressional moves to get rid of the penny never got started because Americans are more emotional about these things, apparently. For one thing, Lincoln, one of the most beloved presidents, is on the penny. For another, Illinois, the land of Lincoln, takes these efforts as a personal attack.
