The last penny minted in Canada since its introduction in 1858 is on its way to the country's currency museum in Ottawa.

Finance Minister Jim Flaherty pushed the button just after 11 a.m. local time (noon ET) at the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg.

After about a minute or so, the final coin dropped into a clear container from the side of the bright yellow press.

Flaherty picked up the penny wearing white gloves and held it up for a flurry of flashing cameras and television crews.

"It was very cool," he said when asked how it felt to push the button.

While the mint has found innovative ways over the years to cut costs and introduce new techniques in currency manufacture, the time had come to end production of an underused coin that's no longer vital to commerce, Flaherty said.

He hopes Canadians will donate their remaining pennies to charitable causes across the country.

The penny has been in use in what is now Canada since 1858 when the decimal system was adopted. The first coins in the Dominion of Canada were issued in 1870.

About 35 billion pennies have been issued since then, more than half of them in the last two decades.

Although there's no "end date" for the use of the penny, the government advises anyone wanting to cash them in to roll them up and take them to a bank

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