toonie
{{Short description|Canadian two-dollar coin}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2022}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox coin
| Country = Canada
| Denomination = Toonie
| Value = 2.00
| Unit = CAD
| Mass = 6.92
| Diameter = 28
| Thickness = 1.75
| Edge = Intermittent milled/smooth
| Composition = {{Indented plainlist|
- 1996–2012
- Outer ring: 99% Ni
- Inner core: Aluminum bronze (92% Cu, 6% Al, 2% Ni)
- 2012–present
- Outer ring: Steel, nickel plating
- Inner core: Aluminum bronze, brass plating
}}
| Years of Minting = 1996–present
| Catalog Number = -
| Obverse = Toonie - back.png
| Obverse Design = Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada
| Obverse Designer = Susanna Blunt
| Obverse Design Date = 2003
| Obverse Discontinued = 2023
| Obverse2 Design = Charles III, King of Canada
| Obverse2 Designer = Steven Rosati
| Obverse2 Design Date = 2023
| Reverse = Toonie - front.png
| Reverse Design = Polar bear in early summer on an ice floe
| Reverse Designer = Brent Townsend
| Reverse Design Date = 1996
| Reverse Discontinued = 2012
| Reverse2 = Toonie.2012.design.reverse.png
| Reverse2 Design = Polar bear in early summer on an ice floe
| Reverse2 Designer = Brent Townsend
| Reverse2 Design Date = 2012
}}
The toonie (also spelled twonie{{Cite web|last=International|first=Radio Canada|date=January 5, 2021|title=Old Canadian banknotes lose legal tender status|url=https://www.rcinet.ca/en/2021/01/05/old-canadian-banknotes-lose-legal-tender-status/|access-date=September 4, 2021|website=RCI {{!}} English}}{{Cite web|date=February 19, 2016|title=Toonie turns 20 years old|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/toonie-turns-20-feb-2016-1.3455199|website=CBC|access-date=November 27, 2022}} or twoonie{{Cite web|date=February 24, 2015|title=Greater Sudbury to buy Ramsey Lake Island for a twoonie|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/sudbury/greater-sudbury-to-buy-ramsey-lake-island-for-a-twoonie-1.2968539|website=CBC|access-date=November 27, 2022}}{{Cite web|date=August 12, 2021|last=Acres|first=Victoria|title='Twoonie Tuesdays' a hit in Rodney|url=https://thechronicle-online.com/news/local-news/twoonie-tuesdays-a-hit-in-rodney|url-status=dead|website=thechronicle-online|language=en-CA|archive-date=August 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210812183612/https://www.thechronicle-online.com/news/local-news/twoonie-tuesdays-a-hit-in-rodney|access-date=November 27, 2022}}), formally the Canadian two-dollar coin ({{Langx|fr|pièce de 2 dollars canadiens}}, nicknamed {{lang|fr|deux piastres}} or {{lang|fr|deux piastres rond}}), was introduced on February 19, 1996, by Minister of Public Works Diane Marleau. {{as of|2025|post=,}} it possesses the highest monetary value of any circulating Canadian coin. The toonie is a bi-metallic coin which on the reverse side features an image of a polar bear by artist Brent Townsend. The obverse, since 2023, bears a portrait of King Charles III. It has the words "Charles III / {{lang|la|D.G. Rex}}"; {{cn span|before 2023, the words were in a typeface different than that used on other Canadian coins|date=January 2025}}.{{cite web|url=https://www.mint.ca/en/discover/faces-of-the-monarch/king-charles-effigy |title=A New Royal Era |publisher=Royal Canadian Mint |access-date=January 7, 2024}}
The coin is manufactured using a patented distinctive bi-metallic coin-locking mechanism.{{cite web|url=http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/2-dollars-5300016 |title=Balance and composition – the 2-dollar coin |publisher=Royal Canadian Mint |access-date=November 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120426205430/http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/2-dollars-5300016 |archive-date=April 26, 2012}} The coins are estimated to last 20 years. The discontinued two-dollar bill was less expensive to manufacture but lasted only one year on average.{{cite news |first=Fred |last=Langan |url=http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/1996/feb/20/canadas-new-coin-a-toonie-by-fred-langan-the-chris/ |title=Canada's new coin a 'toonie'? |via=The Christian Science Monitor |date=February 20, 1996 |newspaper=Las Vegas Sun |access-date=December 2, 2011}}
On April 10, 2012, the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) announced design changes to the loonie and toonie, which include new security features.{{cite web|last=Royal Canadian Mint|title=The Loonie and Toonie have evolved|url=http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/new-1-and-2-6800002|publisher=Royal Canadian Mint|access-date=November 27, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120423110121/http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/new-1-and-2-6800002 |archive-date=April 23, 2012}}
Coins minted prior to 2012 consist of an aluminum bronze inner core with a pure nickel outer ring;{{cite book|author1=George S. Čuhaj|author2=Thomas Michael|title=2012 Standard Catalog of World Coins 2001 to Date|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KQO4pV-1qlMC&pg=PA144|date=July 11, 2011|publisher=Krause Publications|isbn=978-1-4402-1575-9|page=144}}{{Dead link|date=February 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} but in March–May 2012, the composition of the inner core switched to aluminum bronze coated with multi-ply plated brass, and the outer ring switched to steel coated with multi-ply plated nickel.{{cite web |url=http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/the-new-2-coin-6800006 |title=The New $2 Coin |publisher=Royal Canadian Mint |access-date=April 21, 2012 |archive-date=April 13, 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120413021322/http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/learn/the-new-2-coin-6800006 |url-status=dead }} The weight dropped from 7.30 to 6.92{{nbsp}}g, and the thickness changed from 1.8 to 1.75 mm. The Mint said that multi-ply plated steel technology, already used in Canada's smaller coinage, produces an electromagnetic signature that is harder to counterfeit than that of regular alloy coins; also, using steel provides cost savings and avoids fluctuations in the price or supply of nickel.{{cite web |url=http://www.gazette.gc.ca/rp-pr/p2/2012/2012-01-04/html/sor-dors324-eng.html |title=Order Amending Part 2 of the Schedule to the Royal Canadian Mint Act |work=Canada Gazette |publisher=Government of Canada |access-date=January 14, 2012}}{{cite news |url=https://montrealgazette.com/business/money/Material+change+store+loonies+toonies/5992375/story.html |title=Material change in store for loonies, toonies |newspaper=Montreal Gazette |agency=Postmedia News |date=January 14, 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=July 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=no }}
Naming
"Toonie" is a portmanteau word combining the number "two" with the name of the loonie, Canada's one-dollar coin. It is occasionally spelled "twonie" or "twoonie", but Canadian newspapers and the Royal Canadian Mint use the "toonie" spelling.
Jack Iyerak Anawak, member of Parliament from Nunatsiaq (the electoral district representing what is now the territory of Nunavut), suggested the name "Nanuq" [nanook, polar bear] in honour of the Inuit and their northern culture; however, this proposal went largely unnoticed beside the popular "toonie".{{cite web|url=https://openparliament.ca/hansards/1325/13/only/ |title=Jack Iyerak Anawak on Two-Dollar Coin - Hansard April 26th, 1996, Retrieved March 30, 2011 |publisher=Openparliament.ca |date=April 26, 1996 |access-date=December 2, 2011}}{{cite web|url=http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1881577 |title=WordReference Forums - Vocabulaire Anglo-Normand, Retrieved March 30, 2011 |publisher=Forum.wordreference.com |date=August 5, 2010 |access-date=December 2, 2011}}{{cite web |last1=Poff |first1=Stephanie |title=The Story Behind Your Pocket Change |url=http://cwf-fcf.org/en/news-features/articles/150th/the-story-behind-your-pocket.html |publisher=Canadian Wildlife Federation |work=cwf-fcf.org |access-date=February 12, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190213064148/http://cwf-fcf.org/en/news-features/articles/150th/the-story-behind-your-pocket.html |archive-date=February 13, 2019 |url-status=dead }}
The name "toonie" became so widely accepted that in 2006, the RCM secured the rights to it. A competition to name the bear resulted in the name "Churchill", a reference both to Winston Churchill and to the common polar bear sightings in Churchill, Manitoba.[http://www.mint.ca/store/news/canadians-choose-churchill-as-official-name-of-toonie-polar-bear-5800028?cat=News+Releases&nId=700002&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint Royal Canadian Mint] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628200630/http://www.mint.ca/store/news/canadians-choose-churchill-as-official-name-of-toonie-polar-bear-5800028?cat=News+Releases&nId=700002&nodeGroup=About+the+Mint |date=June 28, 2011 }}. "Canadians Choose Churchill as Official Name of Toonie Polar Bear." Retrieved January 27, 2011.
Launch
Finance Minister Paul Martin announced the replacement of the $2 banknote with a coin in the 1995 Canadian federal budget speech.{{cite news|title=It's a real toss-up but here's our 2-cents worth: Call the $2 coin an American dollar|last=Girard|first=Daniel|newspaper=Toronto Star|date=March 11, 1995}} The RCM spent {{currency|17400|CAD}} to canvass 2,000 Canadian households regarding which of the 10 theme options they preferred.
Under the direction of Hieu C. Truong, the RCM engineering division designed the two-dollar coin to be made from two different metals. The metals for the bimetallic coin would be lighter and thinner than those produced anywhere in the world. To join the two parts, the engineering division selected a bimechanical locking mechanism.Royal Canadian Mint: 100 Years of History, p.177, Published by Les Éditions Stromboli, 2008, St. Lambert, Québec, Canada, Project Co-ordinator: Francesco Bellomo, Project Manager for Royal Canadian Mint: Susan Aubry, Legal Deposit: Library and Archives Canada, {{ISBN|2-921800-26-8}} By the end of 1996, the Winnipeg facility had struck 375 million of these coins.The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Coins, 61st Edition, p.139, edited by W.K. Cross, The Charlton Press, Toronto, Ontario, {{ISBN|0-88968-315-8}} The coin was officially launched at Ben's Deli in Montreal on February 19, 1996.
The weight of the coin was originally specified as {{convert|112.64|gr|lk=in}}.{{cite web |url=http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/databases/canada-gazette/093/001060-119.01-e.php?document_id_nbr=11239&image_id_nbr=677412&f=p |title=Canada Gazette, 42-43-44 ELIZABETH II, Chapter 26, p. 614}}
The community of Campbellford, Ontario, home to the coin's designer, constructed an {{convert|8|m|ft|adj=mid|-tall}} toonie monument,[http://janroncommunications.com/ArchivedNews/PressRelease/pr-canada-two-dollar.html "Canada's two-dollar coin and its polar bear turn 10 this year"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101105011819/http://janroncommunications.com/ArchivedNews/PressRelease/pr-canada-two-dollar.html |date=November 5, 2010 }}. CNW Telbec, August 28, 2006. similar to the "Big Loonie" in Echo Bay and the Big Nickel in Sudbury.
Unlike the loonie before it, the toonie and the $2 bill were not produced concurrently with each other, as the $2 bill was withdrawn from circulation on February 16, 1996, three days prior to the toonie's introduction.{{cite web |title=About legal tender |website=Bank of Canada |url=https://www.bankofcanada.ca/banknotes/about-legal-tender/ |access-date=November 27, 2022}}{{cite book |title=Whatever Happened To...?: Catching Up with Canadian Icons |last1=Kearney |first1=Mark |last2=Ray |first2=Randy |isbn=9781550026542 |date=September 30, 2006 |page=245 |publisher=Dundurn |quote=The $2 note ceased being issued on February 16, 1996.}}
Commemorative editions
Specimen set editions
From 2010 to 2015, the Royal Canadian Mint issued a two-dollar coin that depicts a different and unique image of a young animal on the coin's reverse. These special toonies have limited mintages and are available only in the six-coin specimen sets.
class="wikitable" |
Year
!Theme !Artist !Mintage !Full-set issue price |
---|
2010
|Young lynx{{cite web|url=https://www.mint.ca/store/coin/special-edition-specimen-set---young-lynx-2010-prod840001|title=Special Edition Specimen Set - Young lynx (2010)|publisher=Royal Canadian Mint|access-date=October 16, 2018|archive-date=October 17, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181017042922/https://www.mint.ca/store/coin/special-edition-specimen-set---young-lynx-2010-prod840001|url-status=dead}} |Christie Paquet |15,000 |$49.95 |
2011
|Christie Paquet |15,000 |$49.95 |
2012
|Emily Damstra |15,000 |$49.95 |
2013
|Glen Loates |17,500 |$49.95 |
2014
|Pierre Leduc |17,500 |$49.95 |
2015
|Clinton Jammer |15,000 |$49.95 |
First strikes
{{Unreferenced section|date=October 2018}}
class="wikitable" |
Year
!Theme !Mintage !Issue price |
---|
2005
|Polar bear |2,375 |$14.95 |
2006
|10th anniversary toonie |5,000 |$15.95 |
2006
|New Mint Mark |5,000 |$29.95 |
Separation of metals
A failure in the bimetallic locking mechanism in the first batch of toonies caused some coins to separate if struck hard or frozen. Despite media reports of defective toonies, the RCM responded that the odds of a toonie falling apart were about one in 60 million.{{cite web|url=https://www.cbc.ca/player/play/1707742417 |title='Toonie' makes its debut |work=CBC Archives |publisher=CBC |date=September 20, 1995 |access-date=February 4, 2020}} Deliberately attempting to separate a toonie is considered to be "defacing coin currency", a summary offence under section 456 of the Canadian Criminal Code.{{Cite canlaw
|short title = Criminal Code
|abbr = R.S.C.
|year = 1985
|chapter = C-46
|section = 456
|subsection =
|wikilink = Criminal Code (Canada)
|link = https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/C-46/page-58.html#h-123300
|linkloc = Justice Laws Website
|amended1 =
}}
See also
{{Portal bar|Canada|Money|Numismatics}}
- Newfoundland 2-dollar coin (antedating Canada's coin)
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://openparliament.ca/hansards/1325/13/only/ Jack Iyerak Anawak on Two-Dollar Coin - Hansard April 26th, 1996]
{{Canadian currency and coinage}}