Canadian Government Scraps Pennies

[John_doe]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02 ... latestnews

one more...

[JadeDragon]

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02/04/canada-cuts-costs-by-eliminating-penny-while-us-clings-to-costly-coin/?test=latestnews

one more...

And a new proposal to discontinue the penny would likely follow Kolbe's and Canada’s concept of rounding up prices to the nearest nickel for cash transactions. That would increase the cost of goods and services, which would also boost sales taxes. Electronic sales will remain unchanged.

Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2013/02 ... z2JzFH5FX4

Who writes this crap? First, there will be rounding up and down. Second, this will NOT increase prices. Third, sales taxes are not going to increase.

[John_doe]

[henrysmedford]

From--http://www.google.ca/If you go to the site it moves.
Today's Google Doodle.

[fansubs_ca]

From--http://www.google.ca/If you go to the site it moves.
Today's Google Doodle.

I picked it up at National Post as an animated GIF.



It moves as long as you don't convert it into a .JPG (There are no animated .JPGs
so the convesion only keeps the first frame of the .GIF)

I like how they made it a "2013" penny...hmmmm...fantasty coin idea.

[John_doe]

welcome to the world of spot+ premium

[henrysmedford]

Only 20,000 rolls. You can order here. http://www.mint.ca/store/coin/coin-prod1630020?sp_rid=NDk0MDIzODkxMgS2&sp_mid=5556305&spMailingID=5556305&spUserID=NDk0MDIzODkxMgS2&spJobID=65104384&spReportId=NjUxMDQzODQS1#.URGjo6XbxzQ



SafariScreenSnapz003 by henrysmedford, on Flickr

[scyther]

That's pretty cool... but didn't they save the very last one separately?

[scyther]

Hm how long do you think it will take for them to start melting? First they have to ship them to the mint... then the mint has to ship them to the refinery... then the refinery has to melt them! But the mint probably already had some before Monday. I wonder if they have already started melting them I wonder if the mint still had a lot of uncirculated 2012s to be melted. Can you imagine all that shiny going into the furnace? I wonder how many of our precious little coins have already ceased to exist!

Also does anyone know where the company is that is melting them? I know the mint's not doing it itself...

[fansubs_ca]

I was at Safeway today, despite the deceptive automatic coin dispensers full of pennies
they have re-programmed their tills so the reciept shows penny rounding right before the
amount of change. So basically the pennies in that dispenser will never get dispensed.
Maybe they have to be filled or the system generates an error.

So have your (steel) pennies ready to use at Safeway for those totals ending in 3, 4, 8
and 9 so the computer has nothing to round on change back. I haven't tried using
no pennies on totals ending in 1, 2, 6 and 7 so I don't know if they programmed it
according to recommndations. I made a purchase yesterday that ended in 1 but gave
them the penny on that one.

It's good they programmed it into the register through, otherwise they'ld have totals off
all over the place. Large companies aren't well adapted to having widespread mismatches.

When Canadian steel and zinc run out give them American zinc!

One thing I wonder is how they'll handle the copper coated steel, if they have a way
to separate the metals or if there is a buyer of steel that doesn't mind a little copper
mixed in the alloy. They'll definately need to sort into the 3 types before melting.

I have almost 2 rolls of 2012s that I picked from circulation that I'm keeping. I
had annother roll but I let a collector friend buy that one off me.

[scyther]

One thing I wonder is how they'll handle the copper coated steel, if they have a way
to separate the metals or if there is a buyer of steel that doesn't mind a little copper
mixed in the alloy. They'll definately need to sort into the 3 types before melting.

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it would be worth it to separate... even the zincs I wonder if it's worth separating the copper... but what would I know.

[doug]

One thing I wonder is how they'll handle the copper coated steel, if they have a way
to separate the metals or if there is a buyer of steel that doesn't mind a little copper
mixed in the alloy. They'll definately need to sort into the 3 types before melting.

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it would be worth it to separate... even the zincs I wonder if it's worth separating the copper... but what would I know.

Copper is a contaminate in steel making. Mill work hard to reduce the copper content of their product. Ask a steel maker their thoughts on "meat balls"(copper stators and armatures).

It may have a use somewhere though.

Doug

[JadeDragon]

According to a news report on CTV some retailers (Home Depot & Loblaws) will be rounding down on all transactions in the customers favor.

[uthminsta]

According to a news report on CTV some retailers (Home Depot & Lowlaws) will be rounding down on all transactions in the customers favor.

According to this astute observer, this is GREAT advertising. What it actually says is: "Come to our Home Depot, buy $1300 worth of patio furniture, and we will give you UP TO 4 CENTS OFF!!!"
And who will fall for this? Ev. Er. Y. One.

[JadeDragon]

According to a news report on CTV some retailers (Home Depot & Lowlaws) will be rounding down on all transactions in the customers favor.

According to this astute observer, this is GREAT advertising. What it actually says is: "Come to our Home Depot, buy $1300 worth of patio furniture, and we will give you UP TO 4 CENTS OFF!!!"
And who will fall for this? Ev. Er. Y. One.

Video of a friendly orange smocked HD guy explaining how customers savings would really add up over time played over and over again on the 24 hour news channel. The few cents given up vs free advertising on CTV Newsnet... heck of a deal.

For our American friends who may not know, Loblaws is a large grocery chain operating under many names in Canada.

[dannan14]

For our American friends who may not know, Loblaws is a large grocery chain operating under many names in Canada.

This is the only thing i will ever think of when hearing the name Loblaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWAsNZTnug

[natsb88]

For our American friends who may not know, Loblaws is a large grocery chain operating under many names in Canada.

This is the only thing i will ever think of when hearing the name Loblaw http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwWAsNZTnug

+1

[fansubs_ca]

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it would be worth it to separate... even the zincs I wonder if it's worth separating the copper... but what would I know.

Since the Zincs already have a little copper they can just math out how much more copper
to add to the melt for the grade of brass they want.

The contamination issue with the steel is related to one reason I suspected we were
getting close to this. There was one year (I forget which year off the top of my head)
I noticed the mint seemed to make all zinc core pennies which are more expensive to
make than steel core but since they are easier to recycle would make more sense if
they were expected to have a shorter than normal circulation life. Of course then
they brought steel cored back in a subsequent year..

Interestingly in last night's sorting I saw very few steel cored pennies compared to
normal. I even got some rolls that were all pre-1989 (only zinc was U.S.) or even
all pre 1982.

I also increased my silver holdings by one Canadian silver dime.

I found it in a penny roll. I could tell was a dime from the side by the reeding but
it didn't stick to the magnet so I pull it out, younger queen portrate and a date of
1960 (which was a bit hard to read in the shape it was in), my first silver dime in
a penny roll! I also found an equally grungy regular dime earlier in the night.

It was dark and grungy enough I guess someone rolling mistook it for a penny.

[scyther]

Yeah, it doesn't seem like it would be worth it to separate... even the zincs I wonder if it's worth separating the copper... but what would I know.

Since the Zincs already have a little copper they can just math out how much more copper
to add to the melt for the grade of brass they want.

The contamination issue with the steel is related to one reason I suspected we were
getting close to this. There was one year (I forget which year off the top of my head)
I noticed the mint seemed to make all zinc core pennies which are more expensive to
make than steel core but since they are easier to recycle would make more sense if
they were expected to have a shorter than normal circulation life. Of course then
they brought steel cored back in a subsequent year..

Hm... They could add more copper to make it brass, but that would be quite a lot of copper. I wonder if they can find someone who needs enough brass and has enough copper to sell it to. As for the steel, I was assuming they could find some use for it, since scrap yards take steel and it seems that metal is usually recycled, but maybe they can't. Really, given the low value of steel and the low amount of copper in steel pennies, it doesn't seem like it could be economical. I heard that when the US government was withdrawing 1943 steel pennies, a lot of them were just thrown in the Ocean... I wonder if the steel Canadians could also just be thrown away?

[JadeDragon]

The Canadian Mint did go from steel to zinc to steel again, but I believe it might be because they had limited capacity to produce the steel coins with the thin plating on them, and choose to use that capacity on higher value coins. I base this on comments about the newer technology I heard while touring the Winnipeg Mint.

I will report that BMO does NOT have bags for pennies. RBC and TD do have bags and I was told Scotia has/will get bags.

[ZenOps]

Seperation of steel pennies is not a problem, one large magnet swipe will get every single one.

The main issue will probably be the tin content. Pure Copper acts differently than Bronze, bronze usually more suitable for metalworking, art, and coins.

[scyther]

I just realized something... there was a slightly different composition for the copper ones at different times, wasn't there? Some were 95%, some were 98%, maybe some had tin and some didn't? Would they have to separate those?

[JadeDragon]

I just realized something... there was a slightly different composition for the copper ones at different times, wasn't there? Some were 95%, some were 98%, maybe some had tin and some didn't? Would they have to separate those?

Composition throughout history



Years

Mass

Diameter/Shape

Composition[8]



2000–2012 *

2.35 g

19.05 mm, round

94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper (as plating)



1997–1999 *

2.25 g

19.05 mm, round

98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating



1982–1996

2.5 g

19.1 mm, 12-sided

98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc



1980–1981

2.8 g

19.0 mm, round

98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc



1978–1979

3.24 g

19.05 mm, round

98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc



1942–1977

3.24 g

19.05 mm, round

98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc



1920–1941

3.24 g

19.05 mm, round

95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc



1876–1920

5.67 g

25.4 mm, round

95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc



1858–1859

4.54 g

25.4 mm, round

95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc (bronze)

While pre 42 was only 95% copper they are vey rare in ciculation

http://news.nationalpost.com/2013/02/04/canadian-penny-last-day/
Interesting insights and a lady making penny jewelry

[SilverDragon72]

I'm just happy that I was able to get my hands on some of these! Now, with each passing day, the Canadians in my hoard will become a little more valuable....

I will keep searching for more! I would like to have at least 2 CTU's worth.

Same with the Canadian nickels, too!

[scyther]

Now, with each passing day, the Canadians in my hoard will become a little more valuable....

Well, a little less common, anyway. Hopefully they'll eventually become valuable (and by that I mean more than melt/face, whichever's higher). That will probably take at least a couple years, though.

...

It's been going on for a week already... I wonder how many have already been melted