After decades of declining worth, the Canadian penny has finally been polished off.
The venerable 1-cent coin officially dies Monday, when the Royal Canadian Mint will stop circulating it.
It was 137.
Costly to produce, and an annoyance to many, the penny had been in fading health for years. Millions of Canadians kept it stashed away, out of sight and out of mind, in jars, boxes and drawers.
In last year's federal budget, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty decided to pull the plug on the coin.
The Royal Canadian Mint stopped making new pennies last year.
The inspiration for countless expressions, the penny is survived in Canada by its older-currency siblings the nickel, dime and quarter, and a generation of loonies and toonies. It was predeceased by similar small-currency cousins in other countries.
Eventually, all the pennies -- Canada has produced 35 billion of them since 1908 -- will be gathered up and melted down.
