That does seem the most likely explanation.
Strictly, no; Canada has ten-cent pieces.
Actually US “nickels” contained no nickel in 1945, due to wartime use of the metal. 1945 nickels are a combination of silver, manganese and copper. It contains about $0.98 worth of silver. You can tell it’s a war nickel because there is a large mintmark letter above Monticello; it also may have a darker appearance.
1945 Canadian nickels were made of steel and covered with chrome (and are magnetic). They have a cool V for victory design. It’d be surprising to see one of these in circulation.
The US nickel didn’t change from 1938 until 2004, except for a couple years during WWII where the copper in it was replaced by silver. It is not at all unusual to get 1940s or even 30s nickels in your change. I’ve never gotten a pre-38 nickel in change, although I once got a 1929 penny.
Yes, and the US doesn’t have pennies or nickels; they have one and five cent pieces. Everyone calls them pennies and nickels anyway. The dime, however, is the official name of the US 10-cent coin. Canada just borrowed it as a nickname for their 10-cent piece.
We agree. Canada has no dimes. 
Yes. Just like we have no nickles, quarters, loonies or toonies.
:rolleyes:
The paper dollar is certainly still legal tender but you might get a few groans.
I recently got a $2 bill in change at a swap meet from a gentleman who struck me as the kind of guy who probably hoarded them when he heard they were going out of circulation, thinking that they would have massive collectors value.
I was a little annoyed imagining spending a bill that’s been out of circulation for 20 years at a convenience store manned by a 19 year old who was confused by this weird guy trying to buy smokes with paper.
Many years ago when I was a cashier, I happened to take a close look at a five-dollar bill I had just been handed. Fortunately, I had a five of my own, so I later switched my five-dollar Federal Reserve Note for the five-dollar silver certificate the customer had given me. Still have it, somewhere.
I found a 1935 Wheat Penny in my change last week, average condition. Into the old coin bin it went.
In Canadian coins, I have a 1928 George V 5-cent (with FIVE 5 CENTS in large letters on the reverse), a 1942 George VI quarter, a 1945 “V” nickle, and 1943 and 1945 pennies. In Newfoundland coins, I have a Victoria 1900 20-cent, and George VI pennies from 1941, 1942, and 1943. I also have a Maria Theresa “1780” silver thaler - from what I can determine, mine was probably minted in Belgium in the first half of the 20th Century as a trade coin.
I get Wheat Stalk pennies all the time in my change, but I don’t think they are worth once. (I once told a coin dealer, and he said when he gets wheat stalk pennies in his change, he simply puts them back in change LOL.)
I also have been getting a lot of pre-1965 US silver coins. I don’t know who puts them back in circulation even. Vending machines would never accept them. They are made with real silver, I know. But very little. So they probably aren’t worth much. But I do find them fascinating still, which is why I hold on to them.
Yeah, quick highjack: My mother used to find Indian Head pennies, when she waited on the public. This would have been the 1950’s or so. (Don’t bother doing the math, I’ll come right out and tell you, I am 48, and my mother had me when she was 41.)
Anyways, she had several big canisters full of them. And one day, we took them out of our safety deposit box, and looked them up in a coin magazine. Most of them weren’t worth much (not surprisingly). But at least one was worth like $5-$10, or something like that. (Yeah, that made all those years of collecting them worth it:p). Same thing happened with all the Wheat Stalks I had been collecting as a child.
But sometimes looking for coins in circulation is worth it.
I was a teller at a credit union for a year, and this guy comes in with 2 rolls of Kennedy half dollars and wants a $20 bill.
I crack them open to check the full amount and they’re all from the 1960s. Some are 1964, which are 90% silver, but the rest are still 40%.
I’m not a complete asshole, so I said to him, “these coins do have silver in them, which I think is worth more than the 50¢ you’ll get for each. Are you sure?”
He said he didn’t care, just wanted the $20 cash. So at the end of my shift, I was allowed to “buy” the coins from my drawer with my own $20 bill (with the branch manager and vault manager as witnesses).
I was into collecting coins as a young-un. Back then I’d heard about older collectors releasing wheat pennies back into circulation as a way of giving back to the hobby.
Gave them a good feeling thinking that maybe a kid would happen upon them in the wild.
mmm
When I was a kid I collected some Canadian coins. Even bought those blue folders for holding them. I’ll have to check how many are silver.
So George VI coins aren’t rare, in my mind anyway. I got a bunch in the basement.