Canada has bested America in at least one thing today, ridding itself of what The New Yorker called "horrid and useless" bits of currency, the penny. Our northern neighbors will pull the coinage out of circulation at the end of this year, reports Bloomberg's Jacqueline Thorpe. We were sold on this idea long ago, when Sam Seaborn, Rob Lowe's dreamy character on The West Wing, took up the cause.

The move will be much appreciated in Canada, we presume, where they already have very full change purses from those Loonies and Toonies. Plus, it will save the country money. In Canada, it costs the government 1.6 cents to produce one penny. In our behind-the-times country, by the way, it takes 2.4 cents to make every penny. Come on, America. 

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