Scrap the loonie, nickel and the $5 bill...

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

...not my words or wishes, but I encourage you to read the following piece as taken from globeinvestor.com:

ROMA LUCIW

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

More than a year after it called for the penny to be scrapped, Desjardin Group says the government should also banish the nickel and replace the $5-dollar bill with a coin.

The study, issued Wednesday, says rising prices require changes to Canadian currency denominations over the next two decades. It calls on Ottawa to re-examine the usefulness of the coins and bank notes that are currently in circulation and in some cases, replace them with what it says are more useful alternatives.

“Small coins will become increasingly obsolete and new, larger denominations of both coins and bank notes will be needed to finance daily transactions,” Desjardins economists said. “As is typical of a modern economy, inflation, over time, tends to increase denomination value rather than quantity.”

The Desjardins study suggests Canada “promptly” remove the one cent coin from circulation, something it says that should have been done in the early 1980s. The group first issued a report last February saying that one-cent coins are costing Canadian society at least $130-million a year.

After ditching the penny, Ottawa should retire the five-cent coin and replace the $5 bill with a coin of the same value, Desjardins said Wednesday. The next logical step would be to introduce a new series of smaller and lighter low-denomination coins, such as 10 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents, as was done in New Zealand. Given its small size, the Canadian government could opt to keep the current 10-cent coin.

Not only should the $5 bill be replaced with a coin, but a new series of $1, $2 and $5 coins could be introduced, ones that are lighter and smaller than their predecessors, Desjardins said.

The study also suggests that every five years, the government “evaluate the merits” of introducing a $200 bill, taking into account the other means of payment — such as debit and credit cards, cheques, bank transfers — while also weighing potential repercussions related to illegal activities like money laundering and counterfeiting.

www.globeinvestor.com

The Bank of Canada is no way scrapping the $5 bill any generation soon.  A poll in 2006 led by the Bank of Canada asked about the idea of replacing the $5 bill with a coin of the same denomination.

Unanimously, Canadians rejected, and the $5 bill will remain in circulation for many years to come.

But a different series of loonies and toonies would really appeal to many Canadians.  Anyone remember the Terry Fox commemorative loonie from 2005?

But I think they should have done a special series of loonies for its 20th anniversary back in June.  I do remember seeing an "unusual" toonie released in 2006 - with three polar bears pictured (a mama, papa, and baby bear - as it appeared) - I think that was during the 10-year anniversary of the toonie.

But with regards to the $5 bill, if the Bank of Canada does decide to get rid of it someday, you know what this means?  You guessed it - MORE TENS!!!  (Though it probably won't be a significant increase, but any increase beats none at all.)

...not my words or wishes, but I encourage you to read the following piece as taken from globeinvestor.com:

ROMA LUCIW

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

More than a year after it called for the penny to be scrapped, Desjardin Group says the government should also banish the nickel and replace the $5-dollar bill with a coin.

The study, issued Wednesday, says rising prices require changes to Canadian currency denominations over the next two decades. It calls on Ottawa to re-examine the usefulness of the coins and bank notes that are currently in circulation and in some cases, replace them with what it says are more useful alternatives.

“Small coins will become increasingly obsolete and new, larger denominations of both coins and bank notes will be needed to finance daily transactions,” Desjardins economists said. “As is typical of a modern economy, inflation, over time, tends to increase denomination value rather than quantity.”

The Desjardins study suggests Canada “promptly” remove the one cent coin from circulation, something it says that should have been done in the early 1980s. The group first issued a report last February saying that one-cent coins are costing Canadian society at least $130-million a year.

After ditching the penny, Ottawa should retire the five-cent coin and replace the $5 bill with a coin of the same value, Desjardins said Wednesday. The next logical step would be to introduce a new series of smaller and lighter low-denomination coins, such as 10 cents, 20 cents and 50 cents, as was done in New Zealand. Given its small size, the Canadian government could opt to keep the current 10-cent coin.

Not only should the $5 bill be replaced with a coin, but a new series of $1, $2 and $5 coins could be introduced, ones that are lighter and smaller than their predecessors, Desjardins said.

The study also suggests that every five years, the government “evaluate the merits” of introducing a $200 bill, taking into account the other means of payment — such as debit and credit cards, cheques, bank transfers — while also weighing potential repercussions related to illegal activities like money laundering and counterfeiting.

www.globeinvestor.com

I like it.

1c coins will still be available for kid collectors and new folk for generations to come (See GB Pennies for example), and it would speed up transactions. Anyone behind the "purse dumper" in a line up wil understand why. lol

$200 would be good, better yet, the $500.  They could re-introduce that.  It is possible that it might attract a differnt group of collectors.

Likewise, if we introduced the 20c coin, I wonder if the popularity of the 1858 version would increase? I think it might :-)


Also, the$5 being phased out is a matter of a few years, if they continue to be cost efficient.

Neat article!

<sigh> Yes, it's the issue that just won't go away.

Small coins will eventually be discontinued, The $5 note replaced with a coin, and $200 and $500 note denominations will be introduced.  Inflation will make it inevitable.  The question is... When.

I personally would like to see this lineup:

1¢,  5¢, and 25¢ - drop

10¢ - same size as today's; new design
20¢ - same size as today's 1¢, new design
50¢ - same size as today's 5¢; use coat-of-arms
$1 - retain loon and golden colour, make it same size as today's 25¢
$2 - Retain bimetallic design, make it a bit smaller like today's loonie
$5 - A bit bigger and thicker than the new $2; bimetallic

Notes - drop $5.  Keep the rest the same.  Move Laurier to a new $200 note.

Cool $200 and $500 insert/replacement notes!

I kinda like the thought of someday owning a $200 2-digit radar.