Did you know, Canada has never issued a penny? Canadians (and Americans) have been referring to their one-cent pieces as pennies for as long as these coins have been issued. “Penny” is deeply engrained in our culture and language—much like “loonie” is for our dollar. But cents were never pennies. The true penny was originally an 8th century British silver coin that was a bit smaller (and much thinner) than our nickel. Valued at 1/240th of an English pound, 240 of them were minted from an actual pound of...