# Spy transmitters hidden in Canadian coins? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 10, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398 "2007-01-10T13:59:22Z")\ **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:** [January 10, 2007, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/1 "2007-01-10T13:59:22Z")
…and from today’s WTF? File, we have the following report: [Spy transmitters in Canadian coins: Report](http://www.thestar.com/News/article/169560) > [@](#): > > Canadian coins containing tiny transmitters have mysteriously turned up in the pockets of at least three American contractors who visited Canada, says a branch of the U.S. Defence Department. The report gives few details. It seems to me that _maybe_ one could embed an RFID chip in one of the larger Canadian coins. RFID chips are passive devices that echo back a string of data in response to (and powered by) an incoming radio signal. But they have a short range of a few metres, and metal tends to block them. The report implies more complex devices. Is this possible? ---
**Author:** ![Gorsnak](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gorsnak/32/7587_2.png) [@Gorsnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gorsnak)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/2 "2007-01-10T14:48:41Z")
I’m checking. I have whispered to my toonies about nefarious conspiracies against the national security of our country. If men in dark suits show up to take me away, the story is probably true. ---
**Author:** ![Count\_Blucher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/3 "2007-01-10T14:59:17Z")
“Comrade! I gladly report that you are right, there Is a big meeting at industrial complex ‘X’. At least 50 people are apparently all huddled into the corner of what the blue-print calls the ‘break room’. But all our audio department can pick up is a series of 5 or 6 loud mechanical ‘clink’ sounds followed by a short motor hum and a metal door being opened and closed…” ---
**Author:** ![FordPrefect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e99b99/32.png) [@FordPrefect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FordPrefect)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/4 "2007-01-10T15:12:06Z")
How many high-level U.S. defense contractors walk around their U.S. Defense installations with CDN coin in their pockets? I will hazard a guess that it is very few. Hide the transmitters in U.S. currency, that might work a little better. ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/5 "2007-01-10T15:23:18Z")
Show me a photo of a “transmitter coin”, from a reliable source, if you please. _Then_, and _not before_, I’ll believe it. :dubious: :dubious: :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/6 "2007-01-10T15:26:00Z")
HA! And you all thought the foil was only for \*\*chocolate \*\*coins! ---
**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:** [January 10, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/7 "2007-01-10T15:28:09Z")
> [@The Toronto Star](#): > > Security experts believe the miniature devices could be used to track the movements of defence industry personnel dealing in sensitive military technology. > > “You might want to know where the individual is going, what meetings the individual might be having and, above all, with whom,” said David Harris, a former CSIS officer who consults on security matters. “Subject went over t’Horton’s for a cup of coffee at 7:35am – after that, he’s all over the map.” 😕 ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/8 "2007-01-10T15:46:15Z")
What a loonie idea. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/9 "2007-01-10T16:12:47Z")
There’s only one thing to do: Invade Canada! ---
**Author:** ![Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9d8465/32.png) [@Swallowed\_My\_Cellphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swallowed_My_Cellphone)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/10 "2007-01-10T16:17:47Z")
[QUOTE=Larry Mudd] “Subject went over t’Horton’s for a cup of coffee at 7:35am – after that, he’s all over the map.” 😕 [/QUOTE] Ha! That’s exactly what I was thinking. If it was true, that would be the most poorly thought through plan ever. (Waits for CSIS to burst into the laundry room in my building.) ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/11 "2007-01-10T16:36:35Z")
[QUOTE=Tuckerfan] There’s only one thing to do: Invade Canada! [/QUOTE] You forget! George W. Bush is In Charge! There’s only one thing to do: Invade Bolivia! ---
**Author:** ![Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/c4cdca/32.png) [@Quiddity\_Glomfuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quiddity_Glomfuster)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/12 "2007-01-10T18:35:00Z")
I can’t believe that was printed as a serious article! I wonder if Torstar has been taken over by Weekly World News? There are so many things wrong with this ‘plan’ it’s hard to know where to start. How would you ensure the right people got the coins in the first place? Given that loonies and toonies are heavy and clunky, how would you guarantee that they wouldn’t be disposed of as soon as the contractor in question wanted to buy a paper or a coffee? How, other than pasting the coin to the body of the contractor (which might be just a tetch obvious, I’m thinking) could you possibly guarantee that this spy device would be in the right place at the right time to be of any use? Sounds very much like an Urban Legend that some sleeping editor missed. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/13 "2007-01-10T18:43:01Z")
NPR’s picked up the story as well, and supposedly the DoD has confirmed it. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/14 "2007-01-10T18:45:42Z")
Well, now the [CP](http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/01/10/rfid-defence.html) has picked up the story. ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/15 "2007-01-10T19:36:53Z")
Hm. [According to the Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070110.wspycoin0110/BNStory/National/home), the contractors just got some special-edition coins in their change. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/16 "2007-01-10T19:44:09Z")
[QUOTE=Gorsnak] I’m checking. I have whispered to my toonies about nefarious conspiracies against the national security of our country. If men in dark suits show up to take me away, the story is probably true. [/QUOTE] If men in red plaid jackets and tuques show up, the story is _definitely_ true. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/17 "2007-01-10T21:57:55Z")
[QUOTE=Rysto] Hm. [According to the Globe and Mail](http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20070110.wspycoin0110/BNStory/National/home), the contractors just got some special-edition coins in their change. [/QUOTE] Whoever released that story = embarrased. 😛 ---
**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:** [January 10, 2007, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/18 "2007-01-10T22:09:22Z")
[QUOTE=Malthus] Whoever released that story = embarrased. 😛 [/QUOTE] Yes, the _Glove and Mail_ story gives more details and makes more sense. Of course, given teh stealth manner in which the Mint has been releasing new commemorative coin designs lately (they just show up in our change now; I’m not sure that they even issue press releases anymore), it’s not a surprise that someone was suspicious. ---
**Author:** ![Nanoda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Nanoda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nanoda)\ **Post date:** [January 10, 2007, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/19 "2007-01-10T22:15:55Z")
[QUOTE=Sunspace] […]it’s not a surprise that someone was suspicious. [/QUOTE] Yes, I’ve called the bomb squad out three times this month already. :dubious: ---
**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:** [January 10, 2007, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/20 "2007-01-10T22:18:46Z")
[QUOTE=Nanoda] Yes, I’ve called the bomb squad out three times this month already. :dubious: [/QUOTE] Someone foreign… and, I am increasingly-suspicious, a little clueness. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398.md?page=2)