PhilCarr Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I have a handful (about $10) of current Canadian coinage. What can I do with it? Do collectors look for it? Would I be better off exchanging it for USD? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmarotta Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 How far from Canada are you? Basically, the stuff is worthless. Their 1-cent and 5-cent coins will pass in our machines, but none of the others will. You probably cannot exchange them for US unless you know someone who wants $10 in pocket change when arriving in Toronto. Funny thing, but coins are not legal tender. In America, they are. Not in Canada. Back when the Twonie $2 coin came out, some Canadian banks wanted to turn in bags of Loonie $1 coins for twos. Nope. The Royal Canadian Mint insisted on being paid in Banque du Canada paper money, the only legal tender in Canada. This is generally true around the world: paper money is a lawful obligation of the government, but coins are a convenience. So, you can exchange paper money, but not coins. People who travel to Europe etc regularly find change a nuisance. Of course, you could start a collection... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PhilCarr Posted March 28, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Actually in OK, but I get tons of the stuff at the bank. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KoRnholio Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 How far from Canada are you? Basically, the stuff is worthless. Their 1-cent and 5-cent coins will pass in our machines, but none of the others will. You probably cannot exchange them for US unless you know someone who wants $10 in pocket change when arriving in Toronto. Funny thing, but coins are not legal tender. In America, they are. Not in Canada. Back when the Twonie $2 coin came out, some Canadian banks wanted to turn in bags of Loonie $1 coins for twos. Nope. The Royal Canadian Mint insisted on being paid in Banque du Canada paper money, the only legal tender in Canada. This is generally true around the world: paper money is a lawful obligation of the government, but coins are a convenience. So, you can exchange paper money, but not coins. Not all true. From the Bank of Canada site: "What is "legal tender"? In Canada, it is coins issued by the Royal Canadian Mint and paper money issued by the Bank of Canada. Payment methods must be mutually acceptable to both parties (e.g. credit or debit card, cheque). Therefore, retailers do not break the law if they refuse bills." Coins are legal tender in Canada obviously. There is a part of the law that states a minimum denomination qualifying as legal tender, in order to prevent people from paying with large amounts of small coins or bills. I believe it's something like 50 units. eg, For a $2 purchase you can pay with 8 quarters or even 20 dimes, but not nickels or pennies. The retailer wouldn't have to take the nickels or pennies, but would have to take the quarters/dimes. I haven't heard of that Twonie/loonie story you mentioned, but it's possible they used this minimum denomination clause to avoid having to pay to transport bags of loonies for twonies, which makes perfect sense to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saor Alba Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 As a rule I avoid Canadian change, but I still get it occasionally when I am not paying attention. No worries, it spends all the same, and well what with the American dollar submerging into the toilet bowl of worthlessness lately and the C$ worth about par I am starting to care less. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dockwalliper Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 Easy answer is ..Start a collection. Being just across the river from Canada we get plenty of Canadian change. I always saved it up for my next trip north but I haven't been in some time. I have about $50 in change saved up and plan on exchanging it for US with a detecting friend that goes to Canada almost weekly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 In America, they are. Not in Canada. Back when the Twonie $2 coin came out, some Canadian banks wanted to turn in bags of Loonie $1 coins for twos. Nope. The Royal Canadian Mint insisted on being paid in Banque du Canada paper money, the only legal tender in Canada. This is generally true around the world: paper money is a lawful obligation of the government, but coins are a convenience. So, you can exchange paper money, but not coins. I'm going to have to respectfully disagree. Coins are legal tender up to certain amounts. Let me ask: if you went to the US Mint in Denver, for example, and asked to trade $100,000 in circulated quarters for new Sac $1 pieces, would they accept? At the time, the RCM's policy was only to take back excessively worn and/or mutilated coins unfit for circulation - there was no reason for them to take a bunch of $1 coins since what could they do with them besides depositing them back at the banks that had a surplus of them? The current policy of the RCM is that they will take back any coinage at face value for redemption, so it is no longer an issue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Coins are legal tender in Canada obviously. There is a part of the law that states a minimum denomination qualifying as legal tender, in order to prevent people from paying with large amounts of small coins or bills. I believe it's something like 50 units. eg, For a $2 purchase you can pay with 8 quarters or even 20 dimes, but not nickels or pennies. The retailer wouldn't have to take the nickels or pennies, but would have to take the quarters/dimes. Actually, the retailed doesn't have to take coins, or banknotes for that matter. Legal tender refers to an offer of payment towards a debt. When you eat at a restaurant and get a bill at the end - that's a debt. And that's you can pay with legal tender. (They can refuse, but you would no longer be obligated to seek them out to provide payment - they'd have to come collect from you. The amount owed would still stand until paid) When you make a purchase at a store - that's an instantaneous transaction as the goods and the consideration for the goods are being exchanged at the same time. There is no debt incurred, and thus legal tender rules do not apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mmarotta Posted March 29, 2011 Report Share Posted March 29, 2011 Thanks for the heads-up. Obviously my information was out of date. I apologize for that. I got the story back in 2000 from the RCM public affairs director at a RCNS convention that I was covering for Coin World. Apparently, the brouhaha with the banks brought the about the change regarding change. Again, thanks for the corrections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TroyMosher Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 no store is obligated to take any more than 25 loose 1 cents, so dont go to a car dealer with 20,000 rolled up in pennies, and expect him to take it. lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ccg Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 If the car was really worth $18k and someone offered the full $20k sticker price, in pennies, I'd take it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saor Alba Posted June 17, 2011 Report Share Posted June 17, 2011 I'd take the Canadian cents merely because so many more of them in circulation are earlier, heavier, and worth more for the melt value - ie 2.8 cents vs. 2.7 cents for USA coppers. Even the 1982-96 coppers are still worth more than a cent. My Canadian cents finds from bag and box searches tend to find lots of QEII YH then MH on up to 1981, and quite a few 1982-96 cents also. From my perspective at least with cents - Canadian change tends to be a bit older than American change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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