With Canada’s last one cent coin a thing of the past, February 4, 2013 is set as the date the Royal Canadian Mint is urging businesses to start rounding any cash transactions that involve pennies.

Should businesses begin this practice on that date?  Will cents be scarce in circulation?  I haven’t been able to confirm it, but I have heard that the banks will be sending deposited cents to the mint to assist in the withdrawal from circulation.  How long do you think it will take before pennies go the way of the 50 cent piece?  Will it become difficult to try and spend them?

There are a lot of questions that go along with the decision the government has made and I would love to hear your thoughts on the subject.

The Canadian Numismatic Company has ICCS’s first prototype flip up for grabs in their December 29th, 2012 Christmas Auction.

Is this something you’d be interested in owning or does the whole idea of collecting a slab seem silly?  It is certainly a piece of numismatic history, but just how collectable is it?  It will be interesting to see what the final hammer price ends up at.