Foonie? As loonie turns 30, it’s time to think of a name for a $5 coin: Don Pittis
And while we’re at it, Canadians must lose their attachment to those pesky nickels
Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield presents Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz with the $5 bill he took into space. Maybe next time, it will be a coin. (Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press)
Foonie doesn’t really work, so Canadians will have to put on their thinking caps to figure out a name for the $5 coin.
As the loonie turns 30 this week, painful though it may be, we must inevitably begin to prepare ourselves to say goodbye to our blue Wilfrids.
This is not an inside scoop from the Bank of Canada; officially there is no plan to kill the bill.
But there is evidence it is already on the minds of Canadians: The Royal Canadian Mint includes a query about a $5 coin in its list of frequently asked questions.
‘Cost-saving measure’
“The decision to issue a new circulation coin is the responsibility of the Canadian government,” says the mint’s answer to that FAQ. “There are currently no plans to make $5 coins or discontinue the $5 bill.”
However the final line of the FAQ could be taken as a hint: “The $2 coin was introduced as a cost-saving measure in 1996.”
In other words, it has been more that 20 years since the last time a bill was replaced by a money-saving coin.
You can see why the mint would want to soften us up in advance.
Get ready to say goodbye to Wilfrid Laurier, Canada’s seventh prime minister, though the tough new polymer bills may give him more staying power than the paper ones and twos. (Bank of Canada)
As we witnessed during the long and divisive battle to be rid of a penny that had become absurdly valueless, families were divided for and against the copper-coloured coin. Evidently people have an odd attachment to their money.
…click on the above link to read the rest of the article…
