Despite its diminished consumer shine, the nickel is determined to stay
In 2016 the financial group Desjardins suggested the Canadian nickel should be abolished. The gradual increase in the cost of living and decreased buying power of small coins made the nickel worthless to the consumer. And yet over five years later and the five-cent coin is hanging in there. Why is perplexing?
Once upon a time, way back in the middle of the last century, the coin found prestige and use at the five-and-dime store — the equivalent of today’s Dollar Store. Household items, toys and candy were all within the price point of the nickel.
Nowadays you can’t buy anything in a Dollar Store for five cents — let alone a dollar. But that’s OK because the coin can still be used to plug a parking meter. Nope.
Across Canada, the nickel is no longer the parking meter’s coin du jour. Vancouver is slowly phasing out coined parking meters for pay by credit card pay stations. Toronto already has.
For the rest of this article: https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2023/01/04/tarnished-nickel-is-determined-to-stay.html