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jedemdasseine
20th April 2010, 09:42 PM
Steel and plastic. ::)



Canada Ready to Change Coins, Notes

By Richard Giedroyc, World Coin News
April 20, 2010

There will be different change in change in Canada beginning in 2011. The changes about to take place in Canadian coins and bank notes will save the Bank of Canada money, and may begin an entirely new series of $1 and $2 coins to be collected as well as new, significantly more durable bank notes.

Right now, according to CTV television, it costs 30 cents to produce the $1 “Loonie” and the $2 ringed bimetal “Toonie” at the Royal Canadian Mint. At the time this article was being written the particulars were not yet available, but the government was looking to save up to $15 million Canadian annually by changing the composition of each of these two coin denominations, while introducing polymer plastic bank notes to replace all the paper-cotton composition notes now in use.

This much was known: Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the Loonie and Toonie would be steel rather than predominantly nickel based. Flaherty’s remarks did not indicate if the $2 coin will continue to be ringed and bimetal or not. Since 2000 Canada’s 1- to 50-cent coins have been struck using a multi-ply steel technology that involves There will be different change in change in Canada beginning in 2011. The changes about to take place in Canadian coins and bank notes will save the Bank of Canada money, and may begin an entirely new series of $1 and $2 coins to be collected, as well as new, significantly more durable bank notes.

Right now, according to CTV television, it costs 30 cents to produce the $1 “Loonie” and the $2 ringed bimetal “Toonie” at the Royal Canadian Mint. At the time this article was being written the particulars were not yet available, but the government was looking to save up to $15 million Canadian annually by changing the composition of each of these two coin denominations, while introducing polymer plastic bank notes to replace all the paper-cotton composition notes now in use.

This much was known: Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the Loonie and Toonie would be steel rather than predominantly nickel based. Flaherty’s remarks did not indicate if the $2 coin will continue to be ringed and bimetal or not. Since 2000 Canada’s 1- to 50-cent coins have been struck using a multi-ply steel technology that involves electroplating layers of nickel and copper on a steel core. This same technology will be applied to the 2011 $1 and $2 coins.

The changes in Canada’s currency are not proposals. The changes are definite and are outlined in Budget 2010. The new coins and bank notes will be introduced in 2011.

According to a March 4 www.CTV.ca report, “It’s the same technology being used to make our smaller, shiny change, and the coins will be calibrated to the same weight as they are currently, so they’ll still work in vending machines. Our current Loonie is made from an alloy called aureate – which is a bronze-plated nickel. The Toonie is ‘bi-metallic,’ a ring of pure nickel surrounding a primarily copper alloy center.”

The RCM has modified the metal content of all other circulating coin denominations in recent years, each change being planned to reduce manufacturing costs while allowing the coins to remain sufficiently consistent as to remain acceptable for the vending machine industry.

Regarding the upcoming changes in Canada’s bank notes the Feb. 4 Globe and Mail newspaper in Toronto announced “Canada’s money is going plastic!”

The Globe and Mail enthusiastically added, “The plastic-feeling bills will also allow the Bank of Canada to design funkier notes—with clear windows in them, for instance—as well as extra, embedded security measures.”

The notes will actually cost more to produce, but will save the bank money since each note is anticipated to last between two and three times longer in circulation than will a paper-cotton composition note of the same denomination. No information was immediately available regarding the life expectancy of a $1 or $2 coin once the metal content of each of these two coins is changed.

Canada will, among other things, attempt to keep one step ahead of the counterfeiters by such extreme changes to its bank notes. Cutting edge technology regarding polymer composition bank notes has been generally credited to Note Printing Australia as well as to Switzerland.

The Globe and Mail reported, “Ottawa will rely on a sole supplier —an Australian company—for the polymer bank note material. In theory, at least, the scarcity of this [polymer material] means fraudsters will be hard-pressed to fake their own notes.”

Although this may become a deterrent for bank note forgers, since a $1 and a $2 coin have significant purchasing power it is possible counterfeits might turn their efforts in their direction instead. To date there has been no indication there are a significant number of counterfeit Canadian $1 and $2 coins being detected, however several other foreign countries in which high purchasing power coins have replaced low denomination bank notes in recent years have reported more interest in faking these coins.

Canada, on the other hand, stopped issuing $1,000 bank notes several years ago not due to counterfeiting, but because the significantly larger denomination note was being used by individuals trying to avoid detection when making large financial transactions.

United Press International recently reported the Royal Canadian Mounted Police as saying more than 141,000 counterfeit bank notes with a face value of $3.3 million were detected in 2007.

http://www.numismaster.com/ta/numis/Article.jsp?ad=article&ArticleId=10119

keehah
20th April 2010, 11:25 PM
The Lonnie and Toonie at risk of having intrinsic value at a pittance cost of 15 million a year.
Risk of damage to the fiat scheme: priceless. ;)

Apocalypto
24th April 2010, 07:14 PM
There is no doubt that the Canadian govt. is locked in a serious battle to save money as far as Canadian coinage goes. I've been collecting nickels (the real ones - 99.9% pre-81s) as fast as I can, but I'm starting to lose the battle. The alloy recovery program is now firing on all cylinders, and my percentages are dropping like a rock. Nickel is a good metal, and I wish I had a few more freebies in my stack.

jedemdasseine
24th April 2010, 07:23 PM
Those 999 nickels are a nice gift from the monetary gods. If I lived in Canada I'd certainly have a small stash. I do travel to Canada every year, and every trip I always see fewer and fewer real nickels. The newest ones by comparison are a joke. Other countries used to have 999 nickels, but Canada is the only one remaining where one might still find some in circulation.

Since we're on a Gresham-related topic, it's amazing that in 2010, one can still occasionally find silver coins at banks in the US.

Does anyone know if the old 80% silver Canadian coins can still be found if one asks enough banks in Canada?

Sparky
24th April 2010, 11:21 PM
Canada, on the other hand, stopped issuing $1,000 bank notes several years ago not due to counterfeiting, but because the significantly larger denomination note was being used by individuals trying to avoid detection when making large financial transactions.

Imagine that.

gunDriller
26th April 2010, 06:54 AM
and someday, the steel coins may be collected and be worth more than their face value.

i notice a trend.

sirgonzo420
27th April 2010, 07:16 AM
Those 999 nickels are a nice gift from the monetary gods. If I lived in Canada I'd certainly have a small stash. I do travel to Canada every year, and every trip I always see fewer and fewer real nickels. The newest ones by comparison are a joke. Other countries used to have 999 nickels, but Canada is the only one remaining where one might still find some in circulation.

Since we're on a Gresham-related topic, it's amazing that in 2010, one can still occasionally find silver coins at banks in the US.

Does anyone know if the old 80% silver Canadian coins can still be found if one asks enough banks in Canada?


Just a couple days ago I noticed a silver dime in my change, and the only place I could have received it was from the bank!

I almost shit my pants when I nsaw it, and cursed myself for not checking sooner and buying out the teller's coin tray.

Anyway, I was surprised - and delighted (even though it had that bastard Roosevelt on it!) with the find.

Apocalypto
27th April 2010, 09:39 PM
Those 999 nickels are a nice gift from the monetary gods. If I lived in Canada I'd certainly have a small stash. I do travel to Canada every year, and every trip I always see fewer and fewer real nickels. The newest ones by comparison are a joke. Other countries used to have 999 nickels, but Canada is the only one remaining where one might still find some in circulation.

Since we're on a Gresham-related topic, it's amazing that in 2010, one can still occasionally find silver coins at banks in the US.

Does anyone know if the old 80% silver Canadian coins can still be found if one asks enough banks in Canada?


You find on average 1 or 2 dimes per box and - if you're very lucky - you'll find 1 silver quarter in a box of quarters. It's become not worth it to search those boxes anymore. From what I hear, the half dollars in the U.S. are still worth the struggle.