Times are changing for change in Canada. Our neighbors to the north will no longer be making pennies. Shopkeepers in Canada will start rounding prices to the nearest nickel.
Could the United States follow the Canadians and get rid of the penny here?
There's a lot of Americana wrapped up in a roll of pennies. Benjamin Franklin said a penny saved is a penny earned and the coin has Lincoln on it, after all, so while pennies may be a little inconvenient, they seem to have their fans.
Cute copper coin or picayune pain? We asked folks at a Pottsville tobacco store to give us their two cents worth about pennies.
"Every penny counts and every penny makes a dollar."
"You get something, bit of a nuisance,” said Tammy Bickleman of Pottsville.
It used to be corner stores were filled with jars of penny candy but now even a little lollypop costs a dime.
At Smokers’ Heaven they sell a lot of cigarettes that have prices which make a lot of "cents," meaning plenty of pennies.
While manager Christopher Figueiredo admits it might be simpler to make like Canada and round prices off to the nearest nickel. He's sticking with Honest Abe.
"Yeah, for some people it's easier to round it up a nickel or down a nickel. To me it's easier if I have a penny throw it in, round it off for the customer."
With expressions like “penny pincher,” the little Lincoln head is a symbol of savings.
“I keep them in a mason jar and save them up take them to a coin collector,” said Anthony Rosario of Pottsville.
“I keep mine. I like it when people throw them in the street. I pick them up, fill my penny jar.”
“So you say power to the pennies?”
“Absolutely!”
While someday the penny may go to that great piggy bank in the sky, it will be missed. After all, what other money gets left out for free?