Calling all you penny-hoarders out there. Yup, I did say penny-hoarders.
If you’re a Canadian there’s a pretty good chance that you’re a penny-hoarder. Take heart, though, there are far worse things than hoarding pennies I wager. If you’ve ever seen the show Hoarders, you’re likely nodding your head.
I heard last night on the news that the average Canadian is hoarding at least 600 of these little copper beauties in jars and containers in their homes. I always wonder where these stats come from, how there’s some invisible force out there that knows exactly what I’m doing. Spooky. Take this morning, as I was sitting down to breakfast, the radio show host claimed that 13% of all kids have hidden food in their socks from their parents. Really? I mean how do they know these things? And why the heck would anyone put food in a sock, and why is money being wasted to collect these useless, albeit fun stats, why?
As for these penny stats, I’ll admit there are pennies in my house; there have been for years. Gee, does this mean my kids even hid food in their socks?
When the kids were small, their father began hoarding pennies in gallon jugs. Over the course of many years he’d managed to hoard a gallon of pennies for each of them. It was more of a novelty than anything, I suppose, important in a way that perhaps only another penny-hoarder would appreciate. Those pennies have long since been rolled and put back in circulation. At least I assume they’re in circulation. They could be sitting on someone else’s dresser or shoved into a drawer never to see the light of day.
Today, businesses will begin rounding up or down, and the Canadian Mint has announced it will no longer be making pennies. It just costs too much. They’ll be gathering them all in and melting them down, and the penny will be no more. And this morning, Google.ca is paying tribute to our penny, as only Google can, so you know it’s got to be a big deal, right?
And what about a penny for your thoughts? Has anyone thought of that? Will it now be replaced by a nickel for your thoughts? My guess is that old saying will slowly be taken out of circulation as well as soon as this next generation comes along.
If you’ve been hoarding pennies for years and have decided to finally part company with them, here’s a good thing to know. The 1936-penny with a dot is worth mega-bucks. Last night on the news they said only three were ever found in circulation. Now, something makes me think that more that three were put out in circulation that year! Makes you wonder where they could be? You know what that means, don’t you? Some penny-hoarder out there could be sitting on a gold mine. It might even be you—um, or me! Hey, I’m just an average Canadian living my average life. I know you won’t judge me since you’re probably just as average as me. Come on, fess up!
So if you’re planning to roll up your 600 pennies today and exchange them for “real money” you might want to check the dates. I’m all for finding out I’ve been rich for years and didn’t know it. Better late than never, I say.
Now here’s a moment of truth for my fellow Canadians, have you been hoarding pennies for years? Do you have at least 600 of those puppies pennies sitting around gathering dust? And my American friends are you an average Canadian? Do you have at least 600 pennies hoarded away? And lastly, for all you penny-hoarders out there, have you been hoarding for a specific reason, you know saving up for something really big like your next car or something?
catchats
/ February 4, 2013It’s the ending of an era getting rid of the penny, isn’t it? I won’t miss it that much. Probably a good thing in the long run. Pennies are certainly nostalgic and evoke childhood memories of the 1960s when I could gather my few pennies together and buy a brown paper bag full of different kinds of candy like tootsie rolls, rock candy, bubble gum, jawbreakers, Love Hearts, Sweet Tarts and those fun bubble gum fingers with a fake nail on the end. I’d love to find one of those valuable 1936 pennies you mentioned but chances are, my pennies are the usual worthless kind.
Laura Best
/ February 4, 2013My purse won’t be nearly as heavy.
I remember those big old pennies that were as big as a looney. Every once in awhile they’d show up when I was a kid. My brother collected them. Like everything else we’ll accept this chance. We all hated it when the dollar bill was replaced and then the two dollar bill. Okay so it’s not just the penny that makes my purse so heavy!
Angela Wilson
/ February 4, 2013Yes, I am guilty of being a penny hoarder. I have given them away, rolled them up and taken them to the bank and started hoarding them all over again. Every time I see one on the ground I scoop it up. There has to be a million dollars in pennies lying on the earth’s surface, if not more. And I’m gonna keep picking them up and hoarding them away! Oh yeah, and look for that 1936 penny! Thanks for encouraging my penny hoarding, Laura! haha
Laura Best
/ February 4, 2013Maybe it’s a Canadian thing. And good luck with your hoarding, Angela. I hope you find that 1936 penny one day.
Sylvia Morice
/ February 4, 2013Guess I know what I’ll be doing the next time I think I’m bored…surely with all the pennies I have lying around, there must be a ‘dotted’ one hiding in plain sight, just waiting for me to discover it and then book my trip around the world! (Or at least to Halifax.)
Laura Best
/ February 4, 2013I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you, Sylvia! There has to be more than three of them around. I’m sure they said it was worth 400,000 or some crazy number like that. That would certainly get you to more places than Halifax.
Carol Benedict
/ February 5, 2013I haven’t specifically hoarded pennies, but always check to see if there are any with the wheat symbol on the back before taking them to the bank. My dad collected coins and said the wheat ones would be worth more someday, though I don’t know if they are or not. I’m sure they wouldn’t be worth as much as the penny with the dot you mention!
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013a while back, my husband took some of his coins to be appraised.(Unfortunatly, he wasn’t sitting on a small fortune) He was told the 1936 Canadian penny with a dot and the American pennies with Indian heads were valuable. He had neither. Perhaps one day the coins with the wheat will be worth alot. That would be super nice for you!
Diane Tibert
/ February 5, 2013The 1936 penny, eh? I’ll have to check my stash. I have a 4L ice cream jug of them, plus more laying around. That doesn’t mean I don’t spend them. It’s just that I use my debit card more than I do cash, so I never get the opportunity to. Once I had almost a hundred dollars worth of dimes before I cashed them in. And I have more than three hundred worth of quarters…but that’s for my castle construction…
I hate to see the penny go because it means we’ll never get back to old prices; you know, like when gas was 30 cents. Pooh!
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013A 4L ice ceam jug means you’re way above the average Canadian.
Saving coins gives a certain satisfaction when we cash them in because they add up quickly and we don’t miss those few coins each week. It’s a good way to save. I’ve only ever used my debit card once or twice!
C.B. Wentworth
/ February 5, 2013I’m not just a penny hoarder, but a hoarder of all coins. I save them in jars until I run out of space. Then, I roll them up and take them into the bank.
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013I do think a lot of people save coins of some kind, C.B. Here in Canada we have one and two dollars coins. Now those really add up!
C.B. Wentworth
/ February 5, 2013I know! Its amazing how much money we “save” by simply hanging onto our change!
Judi
/ February 5, 2013I do have a “few” pennies around the house, some in coke bottles, some in old purses and some in glass holders. I guess in my SPARE time I will be looking for a 1936 with a dot. Thanks for the info, Laura, your just a wealth of information. No wonder I like being around you….LOL I, also, like Angela, will be picking up every pennny I see laying on the ground and anywhere else I see them, so hide you pennies.
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013Yes, with all that SPARE time you have it shouldn’t be a problem. I could always come help. As for picking pennies up off the ground, it’s good luck, right?
joylene
/ February 5, 2013I was going to take my pennies to the bank, but it snowed overnight and the roads will be yucky. So, tomorrow, maybe. Meanwhile, guess I’ll start saving more nickels! I should be brave and save quarters, eh!
joylene
/ February 5, 2013Darn, my message vanished. It had something to do with collecting nickels or maybe even quarters. Yes, I’m going to miss the penny. I would have thought they’d figure out a way to make it cheaper. Too bad.
joylene
/ February 5, 2013oops, double commenter alert. Sorry, Laura.
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013No problem, Joylene, wordpress messes up from time to time. Quarters do add up quickly as do the 1$2 dollare coin! . I’,m sure with the penny gone you’ll find some other coin to save. It’s hard to keep a good coin-hoarder down.
Carl D'Agostino
/ February 5, 2013I will not accept a penny for my thoughts. Not that mine have any particular value. Ya know – inflation and all.
Laura Best
/ February 5, 2013Might know you’d hold out for more than a penny, Carl.
Bridgesburning Chris King
/ February 8, 2013I know the stores here said we could still pay in pennies but as you said the stores will round up or down – wanna bet its up?
Laura Best
/ February 8, 2013At Canada Post the other day we were asked for the penny. Which I was able to produce. The worker laughed and said he had to balance his books. Wasn’t this whole penny thing the government’s idea? What happens in the future migth be interesting.