# Canadians! Keep your worthless currency to yourselves **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 15, 2002, 8:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512 "2002-03-15T20:30:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![BurnMeUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@BurnMeUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BurnMeUp)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/21 "2002-03-17T01:34:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by efrem \* > \*\* > > If he gave you 2 US dollars for 10 Canadian, I am sorry to break it to you but he was a swindler and you were robbed. \*\* No no, I paid for parking with a canadian 10 and only got 2 in change back. The parking was like 4 bucks or something. ---
**Author:** ![Efrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@Efrem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Efrem)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/22 "2002-03-17T16:16:09Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BurnMeUp \* > \*\*No no, I paid for parking with a canadian 10 and only got 2 in change back. > > The parking was like 4 bucks or something. \*\* oh, sorry ---
**Author:** ![Efrem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@Efrem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Efrem)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/23 "2002-03-17T16:49:33Z")
I knew a friend who owned a corner store which during the summer I would help run. One day this regular came in and asked if he could pay for his smokes in Canada’s second unoffical currency (Canadian Tire “money” for you yanks). After I said “no” and laughed he told my a story about how when he was younger living in Halifax. He told me that whenever he didn’t have enough **real** money to buy smokes or whatever he used go down to the docks and trick forgien saliors to exchange their **real** forgien money with his **fake** Canadian Tire “money”. Seeing as saliors are always ready to party in a forgien port and country they always needed a fresh supply of local money. So, more often then not they said “yes” to the seemingly straight up trade. After the crooked deal, this guy would go straight to the bank to get it Canadianized, and the (now) poor salior would go straight to the local bars to get laughed at. After the story I told him that if he had enough Canadian tire “money” he could have the smokes. He did and promptly paid for the smokes, he thanked me and then left. I don’t realy know if the story was true or not, all I know is that it was funny and that he had a lot of the “money” with him. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/24 "2002-03-17T19:32:28Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Slip Mahoney \* > \*\*War? > > I guess you forgot what happened the last time we got into a scuffle. We kicked your asses back across the border. > > And what the hell is this yankee dime doing in my pocket? \*\* Not entirely accurate. True, U.S. troops were repulsed from Canada in the War of 1812, but we pushed you Canucks out of New York just as easily when you tried it in reverse. All of the Great Lakes fighting wound up as pretty much a stalemate. It dosen’t matter, anytime y’all want a rematch, you just let us know, OK? 🙂 😉 As a Yank who has travelled to the Great White North frequently lately, I have to say that the OP is wayyyyy off base. I LOVE the exchange rate. Things in Canada are priced about the same as they are down here, but a U.S. dollar is worth $1.50 Canadian, it Rocks! A nice dinner costs about $20 either place, but that’s only $13 in real money, WHOOOHOOO! ---
**Author:** ![Drastic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Drastic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drastic)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 7:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/25 "2002-03-17T19:41:10Z")
> [@](#): > > Hmmmm, wonder if we should tell the americans about our secret plan to use florida as a staging point to annex cuba (purely for the piss-off factor) Hell with Cuba, if you folks want to annex Florida, that’d be great. ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/26 "2002-03-17T20:18:30Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Drastic \* > \*\* > Hell with Cuba, if you folks want to annex Florida, that’d be great. \*\* lmao! Regarding the T-shirt seen in Mexico, the exchange rate down THERE is really kick-ass. It’s something like 10 pesos to the dollar. I ate the fanciest dinner of my life for about 20 bucks. (Peacocks walking between the tables, a waiter for every two diners, things like that.) And as for Canadian money, the solution is to refuse to accept it everytime a store gives it to you in change. They are effectively short-changing you, but if you accept it you have no right to complain later. ---
**Author:** ![Slip\_Mahoney](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47774/32.png) [@Slip\_Mahoney](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slip_Mahoney)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/27 "2002-03-17T20:22:44Z")
> [@](#): > > anytime y’all want a rematch, you just let us know, OK? A rematch with what, Dave? We can’t fight you in the air. All we got is a couple of WW1 bi-planes with no propellors. We can’t fight you at sea. A leaky rowboat with one oar won’t cut it. We can’t fight you on land. Our guys are in Afghanistan. Both of them. But we have ways. We send you bozos like William Shatner, Monty Hall, and that hatchet faced one note wonder Celine Dion. Dan Ackroyd is here, but we’ll send him back in a cold minute at the slightest provocation. Don’t mess with us. And our money is just as good as yours. It’s just worth a lot less, that’s all. ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/28 "2002-03-17T20:37:14Z")
> [@](#): > > And as for Canadian money, the solution is to refuse to accept it everytime a store gives it to you in change. They are effectively short-changing you, but if you accept it you have no right to complain later. Well, I think when you are in a different country you can’t expect this to work, plus its rather rude. Some belligerent tourist tried doing this with my mother in law once. If you don’t want to get screwed on the exchange rate, get your ass down to a bank and convert your money beforehand. ---
**Author:** ![Mikemike2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikemike2/32/305_2.png) [@Mikemike2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mikemike2)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2002, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/29 "2002-03-17T23:54:49Z")
Another quick story A pilot friend of mine was recently flying home from the States to Ontario. Bad weather caused him to make an unexpected stop in a small town in the States before making it home. As he had expected to fly straight home he wasn’t carrying any more US currency. He had to stay for the night and was famished. This town did not get many tourists or Canadians. He looked for a bank to exchange some money but it was closed. He found the one restaurant that was open and asked the waitress if they would accept Canadian money. She went to talk to the manager and came back and said “the manager says we will accept the money even, but not pay a premium.” I know this story warmed my heart. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/30 "2002-03-18T01:08:18Z")
Also, **RTA** would have had the same problem at the tollbooth 30 years back when the $CAN was at or near parity. Or with an Argentine quarter from 1992 to last October (exactly worth 25 US cents). The tollbooth rejected the Canadian quarter NOT because the exchange is unfavorable, but because they **weigh** less (and probably trip a magnetic detector) – they are stamped out of a different alloy (as **particlewill** pointed out) . And **Slip** , didn’t I read in the last _Jane’s_ that you were getting a rebuilt 1-hp outboard for the boat (British Royal Navy surplus) and a flare gun sometime this fiscal year? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![matt\_mcl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/7ab992/32.png) [@matt\_mcl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/matt_mcl)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/31 "2002-03-18T01:37:04Z")
Can we arrange for a deal? We will be pleased to keep our currency on our side of the border if _you_ would please keep _your_ currency on _your_ side of the border. Y’know, seeing how well that worked in Argentina and all. Some of us would appreciate it. Thx. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/9fc348/32.png) [@The\_Flying\_Dutchman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Flying_Dutchman)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/32 "2002-03-18T01:47:10Z")
Hey, they might not want US currency in Montreal, but your American currency is more than welcome here on Vancouver Island. We just can’t get enough of it .🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RTA](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b4bc9f/32.png) [@RTA](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTA)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/33 "2002-03-18T14:09:51Z")
Now that I think about it, I’ve always liked **Rush**. I’ve even discussed their merits at length on this very board. Rush are Canadians and it follows that Canada is therefore good for something. Hmm. But I feel reasonably certain they’re not the ones responsible for flooding Florida with little round pictures of the Queen. (Even though Geddy Lee spends a lot of time around here this time of year, watching the Blue Jays’ spring camp.) "Thank you"s and "fuck off Canuck loving rat bastard"s to all appropriate posters in this thread. (And for the record, I don’t love Krispy Kremes.) ---
**Author:** ![Lizard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/dfb087/32.png) [@Lizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lizard)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/34 "2002-03-18T17:41:38Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Balduran \* > \*\* Well, I think when you are in a different country you can’t expect this to work, plus its rather rude. Some belligerent tourist tried doing this with my mother in law once. If you don’t want to get screwed on the exchange rate, get your ass down to a bank and convert your money beforehand. \*\* I meant you shouldn’t accept Canadian money from AMERICAN stores as change. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/35 "2002-03-18T19:36:09Z")
**RTA** , I think it would be a wonderful idea if the Canadians kept their worthless currency to themselves. Also the New Yorkers, Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, Michiganders, Hoosiers, and so on. Clearly you have no conception of the right of an independent nation to coin its own money. In that case, I suspect every good Canadian will be glad to buy his oranges from California, take winter vacations in the Bahamas (departing from Wilmington, Savannah, or Brunswick, to avoid disturbing your state) – oh, and let’s not forget the Western states who don’t need the competition to their beef cattle industries. North Carolina would be glad to have more of the peanut market. Of course, unless you’re fit and have a bicycle, you may have some problems getting around, seeing as how you won’t be able to buy a complete car unless you get a fresh-off-the-boat European import. I grew up 25 miles from the Canadian border, nearly 50 years ago, and Dad and I had coin collections largely drawn from what we got in circulation, covering both nations. Virtually nobody ever had any problem telling the coins apart – and we knew that vending machines wouldn’t take the Canadian quarters or nickels (which were, by the way, nickel). And the only question was the $10 bills and up – with Canadian money at 98.3% of U.S., nobody bothered about the exchange rate for anything smaller. ---
**Author:** ![CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crankyasanoldman/32/11670_2.png) [@CrankyAsAnOldMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrankyAsAnOldMan)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/36 "2002-03-18T20:52:48Z")
I lived the rant, not that I agreed with it, but it was the Pit as I know and love it. As Polycarp’s used to be, I am now pretty close to the border and we have a lot of Canadian coinage mixed in our cash registers. You just get used to sorting it out when you are using a machine that might be persnickety about it. Nearly all businesses here take it at par and give it as change the same. However, when I visited my parents in NE I forgot where I was and used some Canadian coins at McDonalds… the cashier sneered at me like I was trying to buy my happy meal with a foil-wrapped poker chip. Sheesh lady, it’s just a goddamn Canadian quarter! ---
**Author:** ![sturmhauke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e47c2d/32.png) [@sturmhauke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sturmhauke)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2002, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/37 "2002-03-18T23:50:36Z")
So Balduran, are you saying that if I come to your fair city I can’t just spend my Amnish coins whereever I want? Come on, a gold piece is a gold piece, isn’t it? Anyways, I thought you were lost at sea or something. Ya know, I could put in a good word for you at Umberlee’s Water House, for the right price that is… ---
**Author:** ![Balduran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/cc9497/32.png) [@Balduran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balduran)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/38 "2002-03-19T04:50:26Z")
Ok sorry **Lizard** , you are quite right of course. Well sure **sturmhauke** I’ll accept Amnish coin, but at 66% exchange. And I can never be truly dead while my golden pantaloons exist. All you have to do is rub the crotch for me to return. But don’t trust Umberlee, that’s how I lost them in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![sirjamesp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@sirjamesp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sirjamesp)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2002, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/39 "2002-03-19T10:46:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by im\_a\_loser \* > I don’t know what yer gettin all upset aboot, eh. Want another burned down white house? The burning of the White House was a British achievement: [Previous GQ thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=63222) [A grudging mention by the Yanks themselves](http://www.whitehouse.gov/history/eeobtour/timeline.html) ---
**Author:** ![Rilchiam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/2bfe46/32.png) [@Rilchiam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rilchiam)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2002, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512/40 "2002-03-20T02:08:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Polycarp \* > \*\ ***RTA** , I think it would be a wonderful idea if the Canadians kept their worthless currency to themselves. Also the New Yorkers, Pennsylvanians, Ohioans, Michiganders, Hoosiers, and so on. Clearly you have no conception of the right of an independent nation to coin its own money. In that case, I suspect every good Canadian will be glad to buy his oranges from California, blah blah blah… > \*\* **Poly** , have you ever put an American dollar in a change machine in, say, Cleveland, in an attempt to get laundry quarters, and gotten three American and one Canadian, thereby shorting yourself a drying cycle? Have you ever been parched with thirst in, say, Pittsburgh, and approached a soft drink machine only to find that your only quarter is Canadian, you don’t have enough American change to purchase a can of pop, and you have no option of exchanging the moosehead for an eagle? Then shuddup. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/canadians-keep-your-worthless-currency-to-yourselves/98512.md?page=1)