Mourning the Copper Sunshine

Pocketful of Sunshine - Natasha Bedingfield

I doubt that Natasha was singing about a pocketful of change when she recorded this song, however to me a pocketful of money is a pocketful of sunshine - regardless of the denomination.

The other day the government of Canada decided to do away with the lowly 1 cent copper penny claiming that it costs 1 1/2 cents to produce each one. Well, you would have to be a fool to think that the government is going to do anything that doesn't screw you in the pocketbook somehow. Just because something costs more to keep than it's social value doesn't me we should do away with it. Yes, we are still talking about the penny but the argument is transferable to the infirm, vegetative or mentally incapacitated members of society who for whatever reason cost more money for taxpayers to support than they will ever earn. Let's group the prison population in there too! It costs more to house them and they sure don't earn their keep, especially the ones that are "lifers" - even rehabilitation is a waste if they will never be released! But I digress...

Back to the penny. I am not looking at this issue with a completely sentimental eye, nor the cost effectiveness of continuing with production. For the moment lets look at practicality from the consumer standpoint. Last night the price of gas at the pumps jumped up 2.8 cents a litre, they why is irrelevant at this point, what I want to know is with the demise of the penny will the price at the pumps increase in 5 cent increments? Using the rounding argument that everyone seems to be quoting - 2.8 is less than 3 so therefore we would not have seen an increase? Yeah right! I'm no economist or consumer pricing expert but I am fully expecting the price at the pumps to be rounding to the nickel at all times. And when the oil companies choose to raise the price they will hike by a nickel. Anyone who has the misfortune to have to visit the gas station will know all too well that waiting for the price to drop by a penny is like watching molasses pour. The Toronto Maple Leafs will win the Stanley Cup before the price would drop by 5 cents in one fell swoop!

You know if the government had announced a tax increase, people would be up in arms that once again we will be paying more and taking less of our hard earned money home. Yet that is exactly what is going to be happening. In the psychology of consumerism, stores have consistently been fooling us with the $.99 price extension on the purchase price of good. But when the penny is gone and the theory of rounding is applied - guess what? We are all paying more for everything we buy. A penny here a penny there, it all adds up. And at the end of the day it is you and I who will pay again. Of course, considering an alternative, I suppose that all prices could theoretically remain as they are for once the tax is added the final total to be paid could be rounded. That on the surface would seem to be the lesser of the evils. But would the tax rate be rounded? In a sense it would be for the dollar I spend at the dollar store wouldn't be $1.13 - it would be $1.15. Sneaky tax grabs are worse then in your face slaps.

One other question that really bothers me is the valuation of the Canadian dollar on the world currency market. Will this valuation be rounded as well, or will a final tally on conversion be rounded instead? This could have a significant impact on the trade market and the travelers who convert money on a regular basis. I am sure that there are many other issues that will come to the forefront with time but I will reserve the right to mourn the loss of the penny and be concerned about the economic impact to my financial bottom dollar before I go rejoicing. 

Unlike bills, the life span of a coin is almost limitless especially compared to paper currency. The Canadian government has long complained about the cost of production of the penny. Why? It's not like over the years they aren't getting their moneys' worth of use out of it. As a matter of fact it is because people hoard pennies. Compared to other coinage that remains in circulation, the government is constantly producing the penny to keep up with demand. Interesting phenomenon. The coin which people find so useless is saved like a...well, like a prized penny! And in the short shift I put in at a retail establishment this afternoon, no less than two people refused to hand over their pennies claiming they were going to save them if the government intended on phasing them out. 

Sentimentally, I have a lot of reservations about the loss of the Canadian penny. Albeit a long time ago, having a shiny copper penny placed in the tiny palm of your hand was like holding the wealth of the world. You had money, you were rich. And the joy at finding that the glitter you spotted from afar was a penny just waiting for you to pick it up. Yes, it was the days when you could take that penny to the corner Cow Palace and buy not one but two pieces of candy or gum for a penny. It was a great time to be a kid! People have always been notoriously too lazy to pick up the penny when it drops to the floor. Not I, for when you have a pocketful of change, you feel like you have possibilities. Pennies, nickels or quarters it all sounds the same jingling out of sight and running through your fingers as you wander down the street with a light step and a smile. Especially when I find a penny and pick it up for I will have good luck the whole day long.

Take a penny, leave a penny. I love to see the joy on a persons face when they can use the penny to complete a purchase that they were short on. I like to see the pleasure that leaving a penny for the next person gives. It certainly is a better option than seeing people who have such little value for the effort that goes into the earning of a menial wage that they throw pennies on the ground rather than help their fellow man. If every person I saw toss pennies like trash, gave them to the food bank - I don't think it would be seen as worthless. 100 pennies will buy the same can of apple juice that 4 quarters will buy.

Penny for your thoughts. 

Put your two cents in.

He's like a bad penny, keeps turning up.

Pretty as a penny.

Look after the pennies, and the dollars will take care of themselves.

Not worth one red cent.

Have two pennies to rub together.

Penny ante.

Penny pincher.

Spend a penny. (UK idiom meaning to go to the toilet)

Remember the penny loafer? The penny auction? The penny arcade? I don't care that on it's own, the penny can't buy anything. I will miss it! 

Bottom line to remember is that rounding, however it is done will never favour the consumer - always the retailer and the government. I hope that you will be cheering as loudly when EVERYTHING that you buy and spend money costs more because the penny isn't in your pocket anymore.