No more 'spending a penny'...?

[#1]

Should the UK ditch the one penny coin like Canada?

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Go shopping at any shop in Canada and you may notice that something is missing in your change - the one penny or cent. The coin is being withdrawn from circulation by the Canadian government. From Monday, change must be rounded up or down to the nearest five cents.

Is it time to drop it in the UK? (You can be sure that prices would always be rounded up! )
According to the above article:

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The 1p coin is by far the most common coin in the UK. There were 11.3 billion in circulation, according to the latest figures from The Royal Mint, accounting for nearly 40% of all coins in the system.

According to the Royal Mint's Legal Tender Guidelines:

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1p - for any amount not exceeding 20p

and there isn't much you can spend them on anyway.
My view is we should keep them for, as the article suggests, charities rely on them.
I used to save pennies & tuppences but no longer so as most of my transactions are by card these days. How many others do save them up and, if so, what do you do with them when the jar is full?

[#2]

Like you I don't use cash that often, but if I am given them in change I look for one of those charity cans usually near the till and deposit them straight in there. The manager of my local newsagent/mini-market store tells me I'm not alone and the box fills quite quickly. I'm not sure which charity is involved but I'm quite happy not to be carrying the copper around.

[#3]

All my change gos in to a tub, waiting to go into the bank.

[#4]

1) All my loose Copper goes into a tub, to be handed out in handfuls at Halloween... (If parents are present, and for teenagers)
2) Some Tesco self serve tills have a tray you can put all your loose change in, and add it all up for you, towards your payment.
3) There are of course the loose change counting machines, which give you an in-store credit (for a fee 7%? )
4) In Charity shops, anything less than 50p change goes into their collection box.


Did you know, it costs around a penny.... to spend a penny at home ?

[#5]

I don't think the 1p coin is of any use and it would not be missed if it was to be withdrawn.

[#6]

Time to collect all pre 1992 1p coins and when the 1p go out of circulation it will not be illegal to melt them down for the copper scrap value.

[#7]

Have a penny, leave a penny, need a penny, take a penny.
In America most shops have a tray by the till and customers are invited to put their spare pennies (cents) into it. If a customer needs a penny to pay their bill they take some out of the tray.  Works well and saves having a pocketful of small coins.

[#8]

Certainly makes cents to do that

[#9]

Penny for your thoughts

[#10]

... to coin a phrase

[#11]

You're cashing in on the puns early today

[#12]

I tender like the odd pun or two

[#13]

All my copper coins go into the automated tills in the supermarket; as they like to give me as many coins in my change as possible, I like to take revenge.

[#14]

I read somewhere once that the penny is a psychological thing.  If you see two products next to each other, 1 is £1.99 and the other £2.00 you're much more likely to go for the £1.99 product, although that works for larger numbers too, £4,999 is psychologically more appealing than £5,000 even though it's only £1 difference.  It's probably to do with the starting number maybe, £1.99 is "one pound and something" but £2.00 is "two quid" so it probably seems much more expensive than just £0.01.

[#15]

Moneys money. I just don't get some of the strange almost snobbishness regarding our copper coins.
Just popping out of a relatives house I noticed a car pulled up with the door open and the driver chucking something out. I thought they were emptying the ashtray until I heard the jingling.
There was enough copper coins in the gutter for me to buy a bag of sugar and a newspaper.
If all those that don't want their loose copper change, just give it to me and I will be a millionaire many times over.