Last Friday, Canada government announced in the official Canada Gazette that Canada's mint will soon unveil one-dollar and two-dollar coins made from brass-plated steel, replacing more expensive nickel cores.The new coins will be slightly lighter, Can$16 million (US$16 million) cheaper to produce and ship, and harder to counterfeit. However, the change will cost coin-operated industries up to $40 million to recalibrate vending machines to recognize the new coinage. The mining sector will also be hit as global nickel demand falls by about 539 metric tonnes per year, or 0.05 percent. The Royal Canadian Mint has produced more than one billion loonies, as the one dollar coins are called, and over 700 billion toonies, the two-dollar coins, since they were introduced in 1987 and 1996, respectively.
Canada Toonies
In March last year, it was reported that $1 and $2 coins would alter their composition and include several high-tech security features, such as a lasermark, a virtual image, an electromagnetic signal and edge lettering, making the already secure coins even more difficult to counterfeit. The $1 coin will continue to be yellow and, so it can easily be identified by the visually impaired, it will remain 11-sided. However, it would have an electromagnetic signal to discourage the use of counterfeit coins, or “slugs,” and a lasermark image will appear on the reverse. The $2 coin will be even higher-tech. It will continue to be two colours, but will be thinner to accommodate lettering along the edge of the coin. It will have an electromagnetic signal and a lasermark, as well as a virtual image on the reverse. The new Loonies and Toonies will be lighter but the thickness will be the same with lettering added to the ridged edges of Toonies.
Canada Loonies
As new Loonies and Toonies circulate, older, heavier coins will be removed from circulation to be melted down and the metal reused, Royal Canadian Mint spokesman Alex Reeves said. The new process, still being finalized, will also incorporate improved, state-of-the-art engraving. Canada has been phasing nickel out of coins for some time. The one, five, 10, 25 and 50 cent pieces produced in recent years have been of multi-ply plated steel alloy. To date, the move has saved the government an estimated $250 million. The current one and two dollar Canadian coins are manufactured from nickel alloy, which in recent years, has experienced increased volatility in pricing, reaching record-high levels. Over the last decade, the London Metal Exchange (LME) price for nickel has fluctuated over 1,000 per cent and is currently trading at nearly four times higher than it was in 2000.
Source: AFP, Toronto Sun, Canada Gazette
