COLUMN: 'CANADA ISN'T CANADA WITHOUT THE PENNY'

It’s hard to believe that it’s been more than 10 years since the Royal Canadian Mint stopped producing and distributing pennies in Canada.

I may be in the minority but I would like to see them come back.

I acknowledge that in many ways they were cumbersome to handle and sometimes difficult to get rid of, but I miss them.

It’s like a piece of Canadiana has been taken away from us.

In my younger days it was not all that unusual to have a pocket full of the tiny coins. I grew up in a time when penny candies were common and the coins could be used to buy a licorice pipe or a handful of sugar-covered strawberries on a Saturday night.?

Among other things, they were great for Sunday school or the collection plate at church. As a five-year-old I remember more than once feeling pretty good about myself after donating four or five to the cause.

According to the Canadian Bankers Association, the Mint stopped producing and distributing the coins in Canada on Feb. 4, 2013 due to rising costs relative to face value and the significant handling costs of the penny for retailers, financial institutions and the economy in general.

The federal government reported at the time that it cost 1.6 cents to produce each penny while the estimated price of supplying them was about $11 million a year.

But the “penny is still legal tender in Canada and goods and services continue to be priced in one-cent increments,” notes the CBA on its website.

Banks still accept them.

Should you have some stored away in a bottle under your bed or elsewhere, it may be worth your while to inventory them according to dates and see what you have. The CBC reported in 2010 that a rare Canadian penny billed as "the king of Canadian coins" was purchased at a New York auction for $402,500 US.

The coin in question was the 1936 Canadian "Dot Cent."

The national broadcaster said the penny was rare because it's one of only three known 1936-dated Canadian cents struck by the Royal Canadian Mint with a small but distinctive dot below the date to indicate it actually was made in 1937.

Although it's not worth much beyond its original value, my personal favourite is the 1957 penny.

In removing its lowest denomination coin, Canada followed the lead of other countries, including Australia, Norway, Switzerland and the United Kingdom

The sad thing about life is that any action can be justified if an argument is twisted in the right direction.

Are we better off without the penny?

I say no but I am easily influenced by nostalgia.

In the U.S., the penny is still being minted and there are no plans to discontinue it, according to numerous internet sources.

If it can be produced south of the border then why not here? We have spent money on stranger things.

Canada isn't Canada without the penny.