Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?

Way back in the mid-twentieth century, if you lived in proximity to the border, finding Canadian coins in your pocket or coin purse was common. Even rolled coins dispensed by banks likely had a Canadian coin or two. Because of a difference in weight or metal content, vending machines had to display notices that Canadian coins could not be used. The exchange rate typically favored the U.S. but not by much. Many merchants would accept Canadian currency, but at a discount.

When I operated a retail business on the northern Oregon coast, occasionally a customer would refuse to accept a Canadian coin in change and I thought, Oh, you’re from California. Over time, the exchange rate widened and Canadian coins no longer were generally accepted anywhere.

Canada, unlike the U.S., stopped circulating pennies a few years ago because the cost to produce a copper coin was more than one cent. Also unlike the U.S., dollar and half-dollar coins are commonly in circulation. They also have a two-dollar coin. The smallest currency denomination is five dollars. The Canadian dollar coin featured the image of a loon, so it became known as a “loonie.” The two-dollar coin, naturally, is a “toonie.”

And coins themselves have become another casualty of the Covid-19 pandemic. With sheltering-at-home, few people are out and about feeding parking meters or using coin laundries or playing slot machines. Their dimes and quarters are just sitting in jars at home.

The U.S. has fifty-cent and dollar coins but few people use them. So we need four or eight quarters for a vending machine while a Canadian needs only a loonie or a toonie.

Coins are in such short supply that merchants are requesting “Exact Change Only” or changing prices so that bills come out to even dollars. The Federal Reserve is allocating coin distribution to banks and credit unions. The Federal Reserve Chair, though, says as the economy reopens the shortage of coins will ease.

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.