But I thought my penny would count!

France.

Bonjour. Annnnd that's all I know.

That would be nasty

But you can still use them, so that doesn't really make sense. They are phasing them out, meaning they aren't producing any more pennies, and won't return them with the change we give back. We just round up or down to the nearest nickel. So you can still use them for donations, paying, cash them in at the bank, etc. It's legal tender, which means pennies can never be refused, but won't be dispersed anymore.