Mediaboss Marketing

By Glenys Roberts

PUBLISHED: 17:57 EST, 22 April 2012 | UPDATED: 19:50 EST, 22 April 2012

As a unit of currency it may not be worth much, but do we really want to bid it farewell? Weve long since seen the demise of the farthing and the much-loved 12-sided threepenny bit, but now theres a campaign to consign the penny to history, too.

No matter that there are more than 11billion in circulation, a growing number of Britons think we can do without one of the oldest coins in our history.

Canada has already ditched its cent (known as a penny) following similar moves in Australia and New Zealand to abolish their low-denomination coins. The Canadian finance minister said: The penny is a currency without any currency. Financial institutions face increasing costs for handling, storing and transporting pennies. Over time, the pennys burden to the economy has grown relative to its value as a means of payment.

Treasure the penny: The biggest argument for keeping the penny is financial. Its existence helps to keep prices down

With the U.S. and Russia toying with the idea of doing away with fiddly cents and kopeks (one-hundredth of a rouble and the equivalent of our penny), should we follow suit?

Battle has already joined between the modernisers and the traditionalists.

On one side of this great currency divide is the Federation of Small Businesses, which claims shopkeepers hate the penny. They say it clutters up tills and forces staff to make unnecessary trips to bank bags of low-value coins.

They point out that the pennies clogging up our purses and wallets and rubbing holes in our pockets are worth less than one-twelfth of their value when they were introduced in 1971 (then, they bought the equivalent of 12p).

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They¿re fiddly, virtually worthless and weigh down your pockets. Now a radical idea is gaining currency: Should we the ...