It’s been a little over one year since Canada scrapped the penny for good and we all had just a little bit less change rattling around in our pockets.

Since that fortuitous day when we stopped getting copper in our change, though, some of us have had that inkling in the back of our minds that we might be leaving more money behind than we’re gaining. Are retailers winning the penny war? Or are consumers?

Who wins over the long term when we round our cash purchases to the nearest nickel?

One Quebecer decided to track it and actually find out. Roger Guitar has written letters to the editor to several newspapers to let them know that he tracked every one of his cash purchases for 1 year, from April to May, and found out that he came out ahead of the game: By 89-cents!

Well done, Roger.

But that struck us as a little odd. Whether a purchase comes out in favour of the retailer or the consumer depends on at least two very important factors: The original sticker price, and the level of sales tax in the province.

So we did the math. Here’s what happened. You can see whether you’re taking pennies or leaving pennies on the table, price point by price point, depending on which province you live in and their tax rate in the chart below.

The chart tracks 30 common price points that people would normally consider paying cash for. It then applies the sales tax for each province and figures out how many pennies are being left behind or taken with you.

The magic price point for consumers is $14.97. At that sticker price, everyone across Canada paying with cash takes home an extra two cents. On the other end of the spectrum, $34.98 means almost everyone in Canada (with the exception of Quebec) leave two cents on the table.

The bad news: If you buy one thing at each price point in our test list, you’re losing out in the long game. To win, pick your prices wisely.

Not everyone is happy about the death of the penny and all this added confusion, of course. Newfoundland singer-songwriter Liam Peacock penned this lament to the now-lost penny.