Coinage in Canada[size=18]
LOONIE, TOONIE, FOONIE[/size]
By William Bedford
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
The thing that used to bug me most when traveling in foreign climes was the size, weight and number of coins that I had to lug around in my fragile Canadian pockets.
There were times, especially in the British Isles, when I felt that I was walking with a limp from the sheer weight of their oversized coins. It wouldn’t have been so bad if the weight of the coins reflected their value, but their purchasing power was very light.
The countries with oversize coins are finally coming to their senses, and downsizing them. The European Common Market’s new currency, the euro, is a step in the right direction. Meanwhile, here at home, where the coinage used to be of a practical size, we are going in the other direction. Since we replaced the sensible two-dollar bill with the toonie, everyone complains about being weighed down with a pocketful of the medallions that pass for money.
I guess that some faceless bureaucrat in Ottawa or, this being Canada, more likely a committee with nothing better to do, decided that we were getting a little too cranky about the GST, and that if they added more weight to our pockets and purses, it might make us feel better off than we really are.
Actually, the loonie wasn’t such a bad idea, because it was a nuisance having to round up a handful of quarters for vending machines. However, there was no reason whatsoever for replacing the two-dollar bill with the hated toonie. (Incidentally, the U.S. is going to re-issue a paper two-dollar denomination). Besides, the government could have used plastic instead of paper to make two-dollar bill, as they do in Australia. And if the government is all that concerned about the high cost of making money, it should either abolish the one cent coin, which they say costs a cent and a half to mint, or offer the public one hundred and ten dollars for every hundred dollars in pennies that they turn in.
According to the bank people, there are tens of millions of pennies lying around in drawers and jars. I know of one woman who has been throwing her pennies into a huge box for over 30 years. So you can see that this project would save a mint, so to speak..
Getting back to the loonie, it quickly gained acceptance because it is light, octagonal, and of a different colour than the other coins. The toonie, however, is a coin of a different colour, altogether. For openers, it’s too heavy and it looks like some kind of a sports-medal. Anyway, the government should either buy our one-cent coins, make two-dollar bills out of plastic, or think up a plan B of its own. It doesn’t matter how they do it, just so long as they deep-six the hated toonie.
What’s that you say? The government is thinking of replacing the five-dollar bill with a foonie? Get outa here!
http://www.canadafreepress.com/2006/bedford082306.htm
Canadian Paper Money
