On the last day of the Canadian penny, Fort St. John residents are not quite in mourning.
Though the little copper coin officially exited Canadian currency today – pennies will no longer be distributed and retailers will be rounding change to the nearest nickel in cash transactions – its disappearance may not be felt that much.
“I could take or leave them,” said Fort St. John resident Kim Mitchell. “They just sit around in jars at my house anyway.”
Ruby McBeth agreed.
“It sure takes a lot of pennies to roll up and make any money at all, so because of that I’m not so interested in the penny,” she said.
“Nevertheless, take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves, the saying goes.” She added she expects people will be checking every penny in hopes of finding a rare edition, copies of which have fetched over $400,000 at US auction. That penny bears the likeness of King George V and has a small dot below the date, 1936, which indicates it was actually minted in 1937. Only three are known to exist.
Canadian pennies actually ceased to be made in May 2012. Monday marked the day the Canadian Mint began melting the 35 million estimated to be in circulation.
