# Millions in coins scattered across Ontario highway in serious crash **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 29, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100 "2012-03-29T00:50:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/1 "2012-03-29T00:50:38Z")
A truck crash scattered $3 to $5 million in one- and two-dollar coins across a road in northern Ontario. Several people are injured seriously. Subsequent crashes included one that scattered candy. [Link.](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/article2384120/) > [@](#): > > The highway has been closed by police, who are essentially standing guard. I’m sorry. I know people have been hurt and all, but I just can’t get that Gary Larson cartoon out of my head, the one where a cat is staring helplessly out a window at a collision between trucks belonging to “Al’s Small, Flightless Birds” and “Bob’s Tasty Rodents”… ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/2 "2012-03-29T00:55:26Z")
Perhaps this is the best argument yet against loonies and toonies? ---
**Author:** ![Jamicat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c67d28/32.png) [@Jamicat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jamicat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/3 "2012-03-29T00:55:54Z")
Aww…all that poor candy. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/4 "2012-03-29T01:37:53Z")
$2 million Canadian. What’s that in real money? Yes, I know that the Canadian dollar and the US dollar are trading at about par. So what? When have I ever let reality get in the way of a joke? ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/5 "2012-03-29T03:24:30Z")
Here’s another [report from CTV](http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120328/coins-scattered-ontario-highway-120328/) with video. They used a magnet to pick the coins up. Another advantage of coins made from plated steel (even the loonie and toonie are plated steel now). ---
**Author:** ![Larry\_Mudd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f14d63/32.png) [@Larry\_Mudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Larry_Mudd)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/6 "2012-03-29T03:29:25Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > Yes, I know that the Canadian dollar and the US dollar are trading at about par. …thus the joke still works. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![MEBuckner](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mebuckner/32/2896_2.png) [@MEBuckner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MEBuckner)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/7 "2012-03-29T03:46:20Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > A truck crash scattered $3 to $5 million in one- and two-dollar coins across a road in northern Ontario. Several people are injured seriously. Subsequent crashes included one that scattered candy. “Look out! Now here comes a beer truck! And–oh no! It’s another truck, full of porn!” ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/8 "2012-03-29T04:41:52Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > They used a magnet to pick the coins up. Another advantage of coins made from plated steel (even the loonie and toonie are plated steel now). Nickel is magnetic too, so the only post-1968 coins a magnet wouldn’t pick up are copper and zinc pennies (they’re still making zinc pennies alongside steel pennies, AFAIK). ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/9 "2012-03-29T13:02:24Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > Here’s another [report from CTV](http://www.ctv.ca/CTVNews/TopStories/20120328/coins-scattered-ontario-highway-120328/) with video. They used a magnet to pick the coins up. Another advantage of coins made from plated steel (even the loonie and toonie are plated steel now). I’ll bet they missed plenty. Who wants to go on a road trip? Bring magnets. ---
**Author:** ![Sailboat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sailboat/32/461_2.png) [@Sailboat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sailboat)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/10 "2012-03-29T13:15:07Z")
For the sake of the science of statistics, I really hope they wrote down the total numbers that landed as heads or tails. How often do we get this scale of flips without any effort? ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/11 "2012-03-29T14:24:18Z")
> [@MEBuckner](#): > > “Look out! Now here comes a beer truck! And–oh no! It’s another truck, full of porn!” Been laughing about this for ten minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/12 "2012-03-29T15:32:45Z")
> [@Sailboat](#): > > For the sake of the science of statistics, I really hope they wrote down the total numbers that landed as heads or tails. How often do we get this scale of flips without any effort? Without any effort? There are people who deserve statues in the Statistics Sacrifice Hall of Fame for this! ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/13 "2012-03-29T16:10:35Z")
> [@Lord\_Feldon](#): > > Nickel is magnetic too, so the only post-1968 coins a magnet wouldn’t pick up are copper and zinc pennies (they’re still making zinc pennies alongside steel pennies, AFAIK). Huh? {Grabbing a magnet and a handful of coins} Penny–no. Nickel–no. Dime–no. Quarter–no. Sorry, a magnet won’t pick up any of them. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/14 "2012-03-29T16:53:10Z")
These are Canadian coins. As far as I know, they’re all plated steel now; the $1 and $2 coins were not plated steel until quite recently. ---
**Author:** ![postcards](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8e8cbc/32.png) [@postcards](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/postcards)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/15 "2012-03-29T17:28:55Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Huh? {Grabbing a magnet and a handful of coins} Penny–no. Nickel–no. Dime–no. Quarter–no. Sorry, a magnet won’t pick up any of them. Looking at your profile, I must ask: how many _Canadian_ coins are circulating in Kansas? ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_K](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b5ac83/32.png) [@Doug\_K](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_K)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/16 "2012-03-29T17:39:45Z")
> [@postcards](#): > > Looking at your profile, I must ask: how many _Canadian_ coins are circulating in Kansas? I was responding to the claim that nickel is magnetic. Except for the penny, all our coins contain nickel. ---
**Author:** ![MLS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MLS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MLS)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/17 "2012-03-29T18:14:55Z")
Also involved was a truck carrying thesauruses. The bystanders were shocked, horrified, astonished… ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/18 "2012-03-29T18:31:04Z")
There was a smaller-scale [spill](http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/crime-scene/post/motorists-scoop-up-armored-car-cash/2012/03/23/gIQAn6Y9VS_blog.html) around here (DC suburbs) recently. Some $5,700 fell off an armored truck, and only $100 was returned. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/19 "2012-03-29T21:00:54Z")
Not a spill, but a ton of coins nonetheless: [Street Art in Amsterdam](http://www.segd.org/design-awards/5200/5223.html). > [@](#): > > On September 13, 2008, Sagmeister Inc. began the installation of a mural on Waagdragerhof Square in Amsterdam. Over the course of eight days and with the help of more than 100 volunteers, 250,000 euro-cent coins were sorted into four different shades and carefully placed over this 300-sq.-meter area to spell out the sentence: > > “Obsessions make my life worse and my work better.” ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [March 29, 2012, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100/20 "2012-03-29T21:39:30Z")
> [@Doug\_K](#): > > Huh? {Grabbing a magnet and a handful of coins} Penny–no. Nickel–no. Dime–no. Quarter–no. Sorry, a magnet won’t pick up any of them. U.S. nickels are an alloy of 75% copper and 25% nickel. They do not have a high enough amount of nickel for the coin to be picked up by a magnet. The Canadian nickel is 94.5% steel, 2% nickel, and 3.5% copper. It has a higher abundance of magnetic metals, mostly consisting of the steel. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/millions-in-coins-scattered-across-ontario-highway-in-serious-crash/617100.md?page=2)