Canadian Government Retires Its Penny

Transcript

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

Good morning. I'm Renee Montagne. Canada's dollar coin is nicknamed the loony, but its penny is going the way of the dodo. Today it stops distributing pennies. Canada stopped making one-cent coins last year to cut costs, since each penny cost 1.6 cents to make. Most penniless stores will round out change to the nearest five cents. And since it's out of the penny business, Canada's mint will used its freed-up machines to make coins for other countries. It's MORNING EDITION. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.