My Plan for Canadian Coinage

Intro

I think it is a shame that the coins in Canada are becoming increasingly worthless. When I was growing up in England, even 1 and 2 pence copper coins had spending power. By the time I emigrated to Canada, the Canadian penny was only used for rounding up change. Seven years later it was dispensed with. Inflation destroys the value and utility of coins. People do not respect them anymore. I've seen people not even bother to take their change because it isn't worth their time. I've had a customer ask for the older pure nickel nickels, because he melts them down to surface his blades. Acquiring nickel this way is easier than buying it online. Imagine, inflation reaching such a level that the coin's cheap metal is worth more than its face value, even after the coins were debased of all precious metals.

Why bother with coins anymore?

Coins are immensely interesting and artistic items; they represent your civilisation and advertise it to the world. I used to cash exclusively until my first card purchase in 2001, aged 18. At the time this novelty was seen as immensely convenient. Straight away people observed that it was 'easier' to spend your money when all you had to do was present a card. In the long ago, it is clear that a person's spending power was limited by the value of the coins they could carry with them, and everyone would know exactly what they had. With consumption out of control, with people spending fortunes to import cheap products destined for the landfill, would it not be wise to reign in people's spending power, and stabilize inflation?

How?

A radical solution to make coinage important again could be to declare all prices and wages as 10% of their current rates. If an item was $10, it is $1 now. If your wage is $20/hour, it is $2/hour now. Suddenly coins would be valuable again, and their use would be more than a trifling inconvenience. Or, a similiarly crude method, as that adopted by Weimer and other hyperinflationary governments: stamp extra zeroes on the bills and declare the coins to be worth their face value times 10. Neither of these systems is tidy. Instead, we should be pragmatic about inflation and the obsession with the 2% target, necessary unless we want our consumer culture to crash and burn (I personally do, but I will offer solutions to prevent it). The only way to make coins valuable again is to ride in the inflation train; dispense with the low, introduce the high. Flimsy bills can be replaced with glorious metallic coins.

The Plan

The Result

The dollar coin becomes the new 'penny', the $10 coin the new standard coin (as the Loonie is in 2025), with the quarter becoming a Farthing style coin: still required, but with very little purchasing power. To reflect this new status, a new design will be introduced in 2042 which has the same dimensions but is coloured to look like it is a copper or bronze coin. It will be produced with the cheapest composition possible. If the price of metal doesn't allow it be produced economically, the 50 cent coint could take its place and be redesigned in bronze as a 'half dollar', and the lowest unit of physical currency.

The 50 cent coin

I am a big fan of Canada's 50 cent coin. Although I own some which were gifted to me or purchased from the Mint, in 20 years I have never seen one given back as change, and the cash drawers of Canadian businesses have just the five slots for coin storage: 5, 10, 25, 1, 2. It is well known that a Canadian will keep the coin if they are given it, under a mistaken impression that they are valuable. An attempt was made a quarter century ago to get people to use these coins but it failed. Now the Mint has given up and although it remains legal tender, it is not even available from banks anymore, just the Mint. To prevent mixing things up too much, I have omitted my hope for another attempt to get this coin circulating.

The Quincy

Every Canadian knows that our 1 dollar coin is called the Loonie, after the bird depicted on the reverse. When the 2 dollar coin was introduced in 1996, it was expected that people would called it the 'Beary' afer the polar bear depiction. Instead people refer to it as the Toonie, because it rhymes. Names suggested for a future 5 dollar coin include 'Phooney', but that is stupid and meaningless. Instead, it should be called the Quincy, after the Latin for five, quinque. This has been my suggestion since 2005, and I stand by it! As for names for the future 10 and 20 dollar coins, please offer your suggestions. Naming the ten dollar coin (tenner) for Ayrton Senna is a nice idea but should be reserved for Brazil's use.

Last updated 30 August 2025.