# Interchangeability of US and Canadian coins **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2011, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300 "2011-11-08T18:14:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/21 "2014-10-31T19:19:04Z")
I doubt if anybody in the US would accept Canadian coins larger than 25c, because there is no practical way for the merchant to exchange them. Carry them around with you, and next time you see a Canadian car in a gas station or someplace, ask if they will exchange them, they can take them home. WalMarts are in every city in Canada, but that doesn’t mean an American WalMart wants anything to do with Canadian coins. BTW, Canadian quarters will not work in US vending machine. ---
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/22 "2014-10-31T19:22:03Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > I think there’s a Walmart in Toronto, and maybe one in Vancouver. Not sure. If Wikipedia is to be believed, [there are 382 Walmarts in Canada.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart_Canada) Not sure what this has to do with how to spend loonies & twonies, though; I highly doubt that your average USA Walmart will accept them. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/23 "2014-10-31T19:24:09Z")
> [@MikeS](#): > > If Wikipedia is to be believed, [there are 382 Walmarts in Canada.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walmart_Canada) Not sure what this has to do with how to spend loonies & twonies, though; I highly doubt that your average USA Walmart will accept them. Where’s that tongue-in-cheek smilie? Like the US, Walmarts are everywhere here. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/24 "2014-10-31T19:35:32Z")
I have six Canadian coins totalling $1.40. They’re on my refrigerator, clinging to magnets. I guess all of them are nickels, really. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2014, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/25 "2014-10-31T20:11:23Z")
I’ve never had a merchant in California accept a Canadian coin. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/26 "2014-11-01T00:09:26Z")
Considering that the Canadian dollar this past year is worth about 90 cents U.S., a Canadian shopkeeper will make out better, while a U.S. merchant will lose ten per cent of the transaction value, not to mention that no banks in the U.S. will exchange Canadian coins. Many will exchange Canadian banknotes. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/27 "2014-11-01T10:24:17Z")
> [@suranyi](#): > > I’ve never had a merchant in California accept a Canadian coin. Word. I once encountered a San Francisco merchant who refused to accept a Canadian penny. “Nope, it’s Canadian, we cannot accept it.” Well, stupid me for mixing up my pocket change. But seriously. It was only one cent! Compare that with the Americans who showed up at my retail store in Canada, threw US greenbacks on the counter and said things like: “Here’s some _real_ money.” “This ain’t that Monopoly crap you use.” “These are American dollars–you know, the international currency.” Yeah, it’s only worth something if the non-American retailer is willing to accept it. We were, so I dealt. And when I took US currency and made change in Canadian currency, as per store policy? “What the @# am I gonna use this @# for? Gimme real money, US currency, now!” As a sub-question–why do Americans hate Canadian currency? I can understand if they return from a trip to Canada with Canadian currency that is difficult to exchange. But why do Americans balk at using Canadian currency in Canada? Why do they so badly want to use US currency in Canada? They lose on the exchange rate when they pay in US dollars, so–why? Aside to Americans: every Canadian bank will buy your Canadian dollars and convert them to US bucks on the spot. Visit a Canadian bank before you cross the border going home, trade your Canadian dollars, and you’re fine once you cross the border. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/28 "2014-11-01T12:31:49Z")
When I was in Michigan for three years I never saw a Canadian bill but often saw the coins, which seemed to be accepted equally with American. I started saving the ones I got, in case I made a short trip into Canada. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 12:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/29 "2014-11-01T12:39:58Z")
The Royal Bank of Canada branch a block away from my office in Thunder Bay, Ontario, squirts out American and Canadian money, depending on which you want. For deposits, you stuff whatever sort of currency you happen to have into an envelope, and the bank credits you with whatever the exchanged value is (no exchange fee, but I don’t know if that applies to all accounts). I don’t know if the valuation is set as the deposit time or as the actual calculation time. For the occasional American coin, I toss it in a baggie which I bring along when I visit our southern colonies, and use when tipping or street parking. I find that US bills smell foul, and they are difficult to differentiate quickly due to all being grey-greenish and of similar pattern. I find poly Canadian bills difficult to separate, but at least they don’t stink. Fortunately, I rarely use or carry cash, other than a loonie and a quarter in the vehicle for shopping carts and parking meters that don’t accept a card, and a hundred bucks for a tank of gas if the system is down. For me it’s not so much an American cash v. Canadian cash thing, but rather cash of any sort being a bit of an embuggerance when compared to online or chip card. At the office I prefer not to be paid in cash, for there is a bit of extra accounting involved, but if I am paid in American cash I exchange at whatever the going rate is. Folks have tried to pay me in Canadian Tire money (a hardware store coupon) and local scrip, which I have declined (side note: there really is a relatively recent Canadian Tire Bank that was long preceded by Canadian Tire money, which itself originated only about fifteen or so years after banks stopped issuing their own money.) One fellow tried to pay me with a chicken. I don’t know if it was a Canadian chicken or an American chicken. ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/30 "2014-11-01T12:46:34Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > Compare that with the Americans who showed up at my retail store in Canada, threw US greenbacks on the counter and said things like: > > “Here’s some _real_ money.” > “This ain’t that Monopoly crap you use.” > “These are American dollars–you know, the international currency.” > > Yeah, it’s only worth something if the non-American retailer is willing to accept it. We were, so I dealt. > > And when I took US currency and made change in Canadian currency, as per store policy? > > “What the @# am I gonna use this @# for? Gimme real money, US currency, now!” > > As a sub-question–why do Americans hate Canadian currency? I can understand if they return from a trip to Canada with Canadian currency that is difficult to exchange. But why do Americans balk at using Canadian currency in Canada? Why do they so badly want to use US currency in Canada? They lose on the exchange rate when they pay in US dollars, so–why? Freedom! Canadian currency is anti-patriotic. You should go back where you came from, Spoons, for using Canadian currency in what is nominally still Canada. Do you ever come across Calgary dollars? Are they accepted commonly? ---
**Author:** ![Learjeff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/94ad74/32.png) [@Learjeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Learjeff)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/31 "2014-11-01T14:49:23Z")
> [@Duke](#): > > When I go to the bank to turn in wrapped (US) coins, they run a magnet over the coins to see if there’s even one Canadian coin in there. If there is one, you have to unwrap them and dig through 'em to find that one Canadian penny or whatever. Aren’t US nickels still magnetic? Is a Canadian penny magnetic? (I don’t believe they were back in the 60’s & 70’s.) > [@whitetho](#): > > Where I work (US), the candy machine recently gave me a Canadian nickel (5 cent piece) in change, but then refused to accept it when I tried to use it to buy something. However, the soda machine gladly accepted it. See above: I doubt a machine can tell a US nickel from a Kanookel, and it’s possible the machine was simply full-up on nickels. However, no machines accepted Canadian quarters (which are magnetic). Possibly dimes too, though I don’t recall. > [@CoastalMaineiac](#): > > I live in Maine, and most places take Canadian coins (25¢ and lower) at par. Most places wouldn’t even bat an eyelid at being handed a Canadian dime, nickel, penny, or quarter, and likely wouldn’t even notice. They’d just throw it in the till, and the next person that needed change might get one in return. > > It was that way even when Canadian dollars were only worth about 80% of a US dollar. Higher denominations, and they’re going to either apply an exchange rate (which might not be as favorable as the market rate) or simply not take it. Me too, in MI. We didn’t tend to see Canadian paper money, but we saw lots of coins. Shops would usually accept them, but keep them in the till and use them to make change. But eventually I’m sure they’d bite the bullet, because otherwise our pockets would tend to fill up with Canadian coins, and they didn’t: there usually seemed to be about a 25% or less concentration, for those of us who didn’t think about it much or use any particular strategy. > [@Muffin](#): > > Do you ever come across Calgary dollars? Are they accepted commonly? Whuzzat? I’m in NC now, so don’t see much Canadian currency since 2000. Is it something new? They might not migrate to MI much anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/32 "2014-11-01T16:31:47Z")
> [@Learjeff](#): > > Aren’t US nickels still magnetic? Is a Canadian penny magnetic? (I don’t believe they were back in the 60’s & 70’s.) Canadian pennies aren’t anything now, having been discontinued. Our lowest coin is the nickel. But yes, for the last years of their existence, pennies were also magnetic. (Edit: if you have Canadian pennies, banks and merchants still accept them, but they’re more or less out of general circulation now.) ---
**Author:** ![Muffin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muffin/32/4341_2.png) [@Muffin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Muffin)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/33 "2014-11-01T16:48:38Z")
The Calgary Dollar is a local scrip. Think of it as paper backed with booster-woo. Neither American nor Canadian pennies can be picked up by a magnet. Our mint stopped distributing Canadian pennies nearly two years ago, so they are seldom seen in circulation today. I can’s say which coins are or are not able to be picked up by magnets, for that would depend on the composition on the year of manufacture, but of those laying about my house today, Canadian nickels, dimes, quarters, loonies and toonies can all be picked up by a magnet, but the 2005 penny can not and the American penny can not. Sudbury’s (or to be precise, Copper Cliff’s) [Big Nickel](http://sciencenorth.ca/dynamic-earth/exhibits/images/nickel-2.jpg) is made of stainless steel, but is probably too heavy to be lugged about in a coin purse. The [Big Penny](https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5238/5886089873_f5efb53603_z.jpg) suffered the same fate as the real coin. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/34 "2014-11-01T18:28:37Z")
> [@Spoons](#): > > As a sub-question–why do Americans hate Canadian currency? I can understand if they return from a trip to Canada with Canadian currency that is difficult to exchange. But why do Americans balk at using Canadian currency in Canada? Why do they so badly want to use US currency in Canada? They lose on the exchange rate when they pay in US dollars, so–why? Because you all have $1 and $2 coins. I hate walking back to the hotel with 14 pounds of change in my pocket. 😉 I look in my wallet and wonder where I spent all the money. Then I realize that the pile of change on the dresser (when in the US would be not worth so much so I typically put it in the change jar) contains some real money. So I have to haul that out the next day, tighten my belt so my pants don’t fall down from the weight, and try to spend it all before I leave because I will have to pay a fee to exchange the currency at a bank. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/35 "2014-11-01T18:32:19Z")
> [@jtgain](#): > > Because you all have $1 and $2 coins. I hate walking back to the hotel with 14 pounds of change in my pocket. 😉 > > I look in my wallet and wonder where I spent all the money. Then I realize that the pile of change on the dresser (when in the US would be not worth so much so I typically put it in the change jar) contains some real money. So I have to haul that out the next day, tighten my belt so my pants don’t fall down from the weight, and try to spend it all before I leave because I will have to pay a fee to exchange the currency at a bank. Why would you ever have more than two of the $1 and $2 coins? $1= one coin $2= one coin $3= two coins $4= two coins $5= bill It’s only if you don’t spend the coins that they accumulate, but that would be the case with any denomination in any form. The same complaint could be made about US $1 bills. They just pile up! Then you have stacks and stacks of them and have to take them to a bank! ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/36 "2014-11-01T21:38:42Z")
I live near Erie PA and it is very common to receive Canadian coins as change. When I was a kid whenever I came across them I would through them into a box. I have about $400.00 worth of Canadian quarters, nickles and dimes amassed over 40 years. I don’t know what to do with it? ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/37 "2014-11-01T21:44:12Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > When I was in Michigan for three years I never saw a Canadian bill but often saw the coins, which seemed to be accepted equally with American. I started saving the ones I got, in case I made a short trip into Canada. I often saw Canadian coins accepted in states near the Canadian border. But, as I said, not in California. A few times I accidentally tried to pay with Canadian coins in California and they were always rejected. Even pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/38 "2014-11-01T21:48:30Z")
> [@Dr.Drake](#): > > Why would you ever have more than two of the $1 and $2 coins? > > $1= one coin > $2= one coin > $3= two coins > $4= two coins > $5= bill > > It’s only if you don’t spend the coins that they accumulate, but that would be the case with any denomination in any form. The same complaint could be made about US $1 bills. They just pile up! Then you have stacks and stacks of them and have to take them to a bank! Exactly. Spend as you go. I have exactly one $2 coin in my pocket right now: nothing else. ---
**Author:** ![Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Attack_from_the_3rd_dimension)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/39 "2014-11-01T21:49:21Z")
> [@Muffin](#): > > I find that US bills smell foul, and they are difficult to differentiate quickly due to all being grey-greenish and of similar pattern. I find poly Canadian bills difficult to separate, but at least they don’t stink. Fortunately, I rarely use or carry cash, other than a loonie and a quarter in the vehicle for shopping carts and parking meters that don’t accept a card, and a hundred bucks for a tank of gas if the system is down… What is it about the funky smell of US bills. Is it just that they’re more fabric and less paper, and retain a sweaty funk from handling? Canadian plastic bills are fine except for two things: 1. They never unfold once folded 2. It is harder to [spock](http://www.margonaut.com/newblog/2010/02/fun-with-canadian-money/) or [snape](http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2013/08/26/spock-canadian-5-bills-snape-photos_n_3818218.html) a five. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2014, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300/40 "2014-11-01T22:40:40Z")
> [@Attack\_from\_the\_3rd\_dimension](#): > > What is it about the funky smell of US bills. Is it just that they’re more fabric and less paper, and retain a sweaty funk from handling? > > Canadian plastic bills are fine except for two things:… I think it may have something to do with the “paper” that US banknotes (“bills”) are made, which is actually a cotton/linen blend. Old American money is like old gym socks. Old British pounds are like old library books. Those tend to get better with age. Usually. Occasionally you’ll find one that’s horribly funky, but libraries tend to smell better, on average, than locker rooms. For the non-Americans here, the US is the only country where people eat at a restaurant, ask the waiter for a check, and the pay it with bills. > [@Icerigger](#): > > I live near Erie PA and it is very common to receive Canadian coins as change. When I was a kid whenever I came across them I would through them into a box. I have about $400.00 worth of Canadian quarters, nickles and dimes amassed over 40 years. I don’t know what to do with it? Take a trip to Canada? They’ll be right eager to take that kind of money. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interchangeability-of-us-and-canadian-coins/602300.md?page=3)