I was reading a news story recently about the value of the Canadian dollar (it was approaching par with it's American counterpart - a rare development) and I couldn't help but wonder if our currency is the laughing stock of international money markets. Not because of it's value, but because of it's name. Think about it. The Brits have their pound. The Japanese their yen and the Americans their dollar. But in Canada we have our "loonie". That's right, our dollar is named after a bloody bird - and not even an exotic one. Our currency is named after the common Canadian loon.
And it's not even paper; it's a coin. Which makes for heavy pockets and purses. Couple this with the fact that the Canadian $2 is only available in coin - it's called the "toonie" - Canada is a nation of men with droopy pants and women with bad backs. My wife recently cleaned out her change purse and found $35 in pennies, nickles, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies. She's been happily walking upright ever since.
And what's with who we put on the face of our dollar? The Americans have a former president on theirs - an appropriate sign of respect for a past leader. Given what we call our currency, I don't think the same practice in Canada would be a sign of respect. But it might be accurate!
Comments
We could be calling Jack Layton prime minister and that my friend, is the day I become an American.
Dude...I was ready to congratulate you but nevermind now.
By the way, the "word" I got for the "word verification" when submitting this comment was "colock". I kid you not. It looks like Blogger is starting to read minds and figured out where my mind was going with this. It came close. It just threw in a couple of extra letters.
You Canucks are so damn odd.
I always thought it must seem strange to the US. A £2 coin is a little short of $4, which must seem balmy for coinage.
Chris: B'duh, b'duh, b'duh that's all folks!
Alexander: Ah, Britain, the home of reinforced pockets. Brilliant, mate!
Ms. Thirty Something
Nona - I'm going to Google just to make sure you ain't puttin' us on...but then again, I suppose you just can't make shit like that up!
I hated when people passed Canadian change at my cash register. I had to make it up out of my own money at the end of the day so the manager wouldn't know.
But that was long ago, when registers still forced you to make change. Now they do all the work. The ones at McDonald's just have pictures now, I think. Maybe I should go work there. Sounds like an easy living.
Now I want a burger. I'm easily distracted. What I meant to say is that the loon is a cool bird that may leave the dollar in the dust one day.
http://www.x-rates.com/d/USD/CAD/graph120.html
In January and March of 2008, they were fairly equal, and in February and May of 2008, the Canadian loon was worth more than the dollar.
Ms. Thirty Something
Ms Thirty Something: Are you checking up on me? Yes the loonie soars now and again, but more often than not it trails the American buck.
Winky: Yeah, we don't have enough of a complex with a beaver as a national symbol.
I always thought it must seem strange to the US. A £2 coin is a little short of $4, which must seem balmy for coinage.