By Yesterday marked the end of the penny, the one cent coin that has been legal tender in Canada since 1858. You can’t buy much (anything) for a penny anymore but when I was younger it was a different story. I remember riding my bike to the “corner store” with a dime and coming back with a whole bag of candy. There were once cent candies (Bazooka bubble gum) and sometimes 2 and 3 pieces of gummy-bears for a penny. I think I saw something similar in the Convenience store the day and the candies were 30 cents each.
So I guess nobody will really miss the penny. It seems like most retailers will be rounding up to the nearest nickel. That in itself doesn’t seem like too much but considering that retail sales in Canada run around one billion dollars a day, that extra 4 cents could really add up….for someone…not me.
So I was reminiscing a bit today about the penny and how it really was a big part of my life as a kid, but not so much today. It also got me thinking about all of the idioms that were based on the penny; I wondered if they would change them?
Cost a pretty penny = Cost a nifty nickel
Penny-wise and pound-foolish = Quarter-wise and kilogram-foolish
Penny pinching – Nickel nipping
Penny for your thoughts = Nickel for your notions (This saying – Penny for your thoughts – first appeared in 1562. Taking into consideration inflation a penny back then would have been worth the equivalent of about $2.43 today….which of course would now have to be rounded up to $2.45.)
Also….
A Penny saved is a penny earned…This notion went out a while ago!
And no…I don’t want your two cents worth!
theromanticmisogynist.com 
Ummm, just the other day I was lamenting the loss of Black Bart gum – it was five cents – but you know what, going to the Mac’s corner store alone (or with friends) with some change and buying stuff that I wanted, I got to pick it out myself – some of the first ‘grown up’ feelings I ever had.
Mind you if I got a few quarters my brother and I could overdo it and end up not shitting for a week – those little red fish and berries for a penny were killer in large quantity! LOL
Should we all hang onto our pennies then? Will they be worth something someday? An ancient artifact?
LOL we could use them to pay kids an allowance – would teach them the value of a penny, accumulation and inflation and the hard lesson of exchange: I am not giving you a toonie for 200 pennies!
but i sorta like your idea, maybe we should run around and bury them for future anthro: we found this huge mound of coins, it was a penny dump.