Penny Sifting #2: Ratio Up More Than A Percentage Point

Thanks to a temporary capital shortage, I had to pass on the quarter examination for now. Instead, I went back to pennies - and saw the ratio go up considerably. Evidently, us Canadians are becoming acclimatized to a C$ that hovers around par, if not slightly above par, with respect to the US$.

Out of a box of 2,500 cents, gotten on December 27th, I got 188 U.S. pennies. That's a ratio of 7.52% - more than 1% greater than the ratio I got early in the month.

Interestingly, the number of old wheat cents fell during this round. Instead of the nine I got from the last box of pennies, I only got five; none were older than 1941. The number of Canadian 'scarcities' also dropped somewhat, from 50 to 42. Only four of them were minted during the reign of King George VI, Queen Elizabeth's predecessor.

There was also one foreign coin stuck in the lot: a 2 centiEuro piece, which would be worth about 2.8 cents Canadian according to this currency calculator. Believe it or not, despite a zinger or two, I have found that the non-American foreign coins that substitute for a Canadian coin typically have the same or greater value than the Canadian coin they've replaced.

So, if you happen on one and pass it along in the stream o' trade, you might as well not feel guilty over doing so (although I myself would have qualms passing the British penny off as a C-nickel...)