4 ms·

Canada got rid of the penny 5 years ago and the paper $1 in the 80s. We also switched to metric in the 70s. We’re not that dissimilar from the US but they seem

Canada got rid of the penny 5 years ago and the paper $1 in the 80s. We also switched to metric in the 70s. We’re not that dissimilar from the US but they seem to have an inability to make these kinds of systemic changes.

refurb 8y ago
Walking around with 2 lbs of loonies and toonies in your pocket sucks to be honest. That said, I probably use cash a handful of times each year. Getting rid of the penny was smart though.
- wolco 8y ago
  I think we rushed away the penny too quickly. Glad they stopped at 2 dollars the 50 dollar coin just doesn't seem right.
  - athenot 8y ago
    FWIW, the Euro is coins from €0.01 to €2, then paper from €5 to €500. I find dollar bills even more annoying than pennies.
    - mattnewton 8y ago
      Dollar bills take up almost no space, and are easier to handle than coins. Aside from durability, why would you switch?
      - greenshackle2 8y ago
        I find it easier to manage a jar of coins on my nightstand, than a wad of cash with a bunch of half-crumpled 1-dollar bills. It's not like I need to carry a bunch of small denomination currency anyway. The 1 and 2 dollar coins are larger and are made of different materials so it's not hard to pick them out of the jar if I want to use to pay for coffee or something.
        philwelch 8y ago
        But instead of keeping your cash in a wadded-up crumple, you can neatly stack them and slip them into a wallet, or neatly stack them and fold them in half and put them in a money clip. Coins are a lot harder to compress.
      - athenot 8y ago
        If I'm going to use cash, I'd rather keep loose change in the pocket and keep my wallet as thin as possible. $1 bills have a tendency of taking volume in my wallet.
    - curun1r 8y ago
      I thought they did away with the €500 bill because of its popularity with criminals and its relative non-use by normal people...
  - slavik81 8y ago
    I'm glad to see the penny gone. They were more trouble than they were worth. Why do you say it was too soon?
ztjio 8y ago
The greatest thing about this comment (besides being a fact and a very valid point) is that it comes second after a bunch of apparent Americans fighting over why the penny can’t or shouldn’t be removed as though nobody knows what it would really be like. We Americans are so stupid.
- Ensorceled 8y ago
  I have American friends and co-workers and I continue to be amazed that smart people can’t look across the border and say “Oh, that works” and copy. Canadians can be almost as blind, the recent battle to legalize marijuana was a good example, I can’t count the number of times I said “that’s not what happened in the US” Health care is particularly bizarre. I’ve had Americans tell me about Canadians dying in droves in Emergency Rooms while standing on the shore of the St. Lawrence. I felt like screaming “Canada is right there, you can see the flags!” How could they know so little about us when they shop and go to the theatre in Montreal?
gcbw2 8y ago
don't put inflation in the same bag as metric system, please. Zimbabwe could have invented the metric system, but they still have billion zimbabuwe dollar notes. One thing has no relation to the other.
- fnordsensei 8y ago
  They are similar in that they are examples of systemic changes though, which seems to be the the author's point. The argument is not about comparing dollars to meters.
slavik81 8y ago
They've done some of that in the past. The United States had a half-cent coin until 1857. When it was coin was eliminated, it was more valuable than the penny is today[1]. There is also a US $1 coin. They were widely used in Equador when I visited in 2005, because their currency was pegged to the US dollar. I spent a day in Miami on my way back home and I left a few as tips. People were very confused by them. It seemed kind of funny to me that a US coin was more commonly used outside the US than inside. [1] See CPGrey's "Death to Pennies". https://youtu.be/y5UT04p5f7U https://youtu.be/y5UT04p5f7U

refurb 8y ago

Walking around with 2 lbs of loonies and toonies in your pocket sucks to be honest. That said, I probably use cash a handful of times each year. Getting rid of the penny was smart though.

wolco 8y ago
I think we rushed away the penny too quickly. Glad they stopped at 2 dollars the 50 dollar coin just doesn't seem right.
- athenot 8y ago
  FWIW, the Euro is coins from €0.01 to €2, then paper from €5 to €500. I find dollar bills even more annoying than pennies.
  - mattnewton 8y ago
    Dollar bills take up almost no space, and are easier to handle than coins. Aside from durability, why would you switch?
    - greenshackle2 8y ago
      I find it easier to manage a jar of coins on my nightstand, than a wad of cash with a bunch of half-crumpled 1-dollar bills. It's not like I need to carry a bunch of small denomination currency anyway. The 1 and 2 dollar coins are larger and are made of different materials so it's not hard to pick them out of the jar if I want to use to pay for coffee or something.
      - philwelch 8y ago
        But instead of keeping your cash in a wadded-up crumple, you can neatly stack them and slip them into a wallet, or neatly stack them and fold them in half and put them in a money clip. Coins are a lot harder to compress.
    - athenot 8y ago
      If I'm going to use cash, I'd rather keep loose change in the pocket and keep my wallet as thin as possible. $1 bills have a tendency of taking volume in my wallet.
  - curun1r 8y ago
    I thought they did away with the €500 bill because of its popularity with criminals and its relative non-use by normal people...
- slavik81 8y ago
  I'm glad to see the penny gone. They were more trouble than they were worth. Why do you say it was too soon?

ztjio 8y ago

The greatest thing about this comment (besides being a fact and a very valid point) is that it comes second after a bunch of apparent Americans fighting over why the penny can’t or shouldn’t be removed as though nobody knows what it would really be like. We Americans are so stupid.

Ensorceled 8y ago
I have American friends and co-workers and I continue to be amazed that smart people can’t look across the border and say “Oh, that works” and copy. Canadians can be almost as blind, the recent battle to legalize marijuana was a good example, I can’t count the number of times I said “that’s not what happened in the US” Health care is particularly bizarre. I’ve had Americans tell me about Canadians dying in droves in Emergency Rooms while standing on the shore of the St. Lawrence. I felt like screaming “Canada is right there, you can see the flags!” How could they know so little about us when they shop and go to the theatre in Montreal?

gcbw2 8y ago

don't put inflation in the same bag as metric system, please. Zimbabwe could have invented the metric system, but they still have billion zimbabuwe dollar notes. One thing has no relation to the other.

fnordsensei 8y ago
They are similar in that they are examples of systemic changes though, which seems to be the the author's point. The argument is not about comparing dollars to meters.

slavik81 8y ago

They've done some of that in the past. The United States had a half-cent coin until 1857. When it was coin was eliminated, it was more valuable than the penny is today[1]. There is also a US $1 coin. They were widely used in Equador when I visited in 2005, because their currency was pegged to the US dollar. I spent a day in Miami on my way back home and I left a few as tips. People were very confused by them. It seemed kind of funny to me that a US coin was more commonly used outside the US than inside. [1] See CPGrey's "Death to Pennies". https://youtu.be/y5UT04p5f7U https://youtu.be/y5UT04p5f7U