# 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:** 2
**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, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/21 "2007-01-10T22:29:45Z")
[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] From that story: > [@](#): > > But the item about the Canadian coins item appeared to be the result of only partial intelligence. Ya think? 😃 This is paranoia taken to the nth degree. You gotta be several kinds of a nutball to be fearful of [http://www.breastsisters.com/breastcancerquarter.htm](http://www.breastsisters.com/breastcancerquarter.htm) or [Shaw Communications](http://members.shaw.ca/kcic1/coins/poppy2004.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Duckster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/duckster/32/1244_2.png) [@Duckster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duckster)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/22 "2007-01-11T06:43:38Z")
[QUOTE=Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor] 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: [/QUOTE] The CIA Version —\> [https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm](https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm) ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/23 "2007-01-11T06:45:32Z")
I know money talks; I didn’t know it listened, too. ---
**Author:** ![lokij](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5e9695/32.png) [@lokij](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lokij)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/24 "2007-01-11T07:51:57Z")
Like maple syrup, Canada’s evil oozes over the United States. _gets his gun_ ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/25 "2007-01-11T12:58:34Z")
The article I read said that spy coins had actually been discovered on three seperate occasions. The CIA insists this really happened. ---
**Author:** ![Malthus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/85f322/32.png) [@Malthus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malthus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/26 "2007-01-11T14:33:01Z")
Imagine if they hid the transmitters in _Canadian Tire Money_. That would be an infallible way to bug someone’s garage, as that is where Canadian Tire Money invariably ends up, usually for years on end. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/27 "2007-01-11T14:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Duckster] The CIA Version —\> [https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm](https://www.cia.gov/cia/information/artifacts/dollar.htm) [/QUOTE] That’s just a hollow coin, not a ‘transmitter’. ---
**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 11, 2007, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/28 "2007-01-11T15:00:22Z")
[QUOTE=LionelHutz405] That’s just a hollow coin, not a ‘transmitter’. [/QUOTE] Yes, & the listed purpose is **completely** different. :dubious: ---
**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 11, 2007, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/29 "2007-01-11T15:09:52Z")
“Comrade! Good News! We now know the the name of their new secret project. “Damned Potatochips” has apparently hit a technical roadblock as it “always sticks”. It angers some of their top scientists so much that it sounds like they are throwing furnature around. We think that it could be code for a new super-adhesive…” ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/30 "2007-01-11T15:15:27Z")
The RFID chip has such a short range, tracking would only be possible in a very small controlled area. The only scenario I could even imagine for this was if I wanted to track a customer through the mall, or through a trade show. Otherwise, I can see no reason for anyone to go to all the trouble. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 3:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/31 "2007-01-11T15:28:48Z")
[GD thread.](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=403611) ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/32 "2007-01-11T17:34:47Z")
Thanks for the link, **Brain Glutton**. As I asked in the other thread (now closed), how long before teeny wireless microphones and transmitters could be - or will be - put in coins? ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/33 "2007-01-11T17:50:19Z")
[QUOTE=Elendil’s Heir] Thanks for the link, **Brain Glutton**. As I asked in the other thread (now closed), how long before teeny wireless microphones and transmitters could be - or will be - put in coins? [/QUOTE] Coins move from person to person. It makes no sense to put a transmitter in them. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/34 "2007-01-11T20:00:26Z")
_can’t type, is rooting frantically through wallet_ ---
**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/35 "2007-01-11T20:16:42Z")
[QUOTE=LionelHutz405] Coins move from person to person. It makes no sense to put a transmitter in them. [/QUOTE] Maybe they’re using a tag-and-release program? ---
**Author:** ![According\_to\_Pliny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8e7dd6/32.png) [@According\_to\_Pliny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/According_to_Pliny)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/36 "2007-01-11T20:25:41Z")
Coins seem so ill suited to spy purposes. Most people instantly spend them or dump them somewhere innocuous. Mine sit in a dish on my dresser until I need a tip for the pizza guy and then he gets a handful. They would have better luck with something useful, like a logo pen people would want to carry. Say a pen marked “Property of Canadian Secret Service” ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/37 "2007-01-11T20:29:24Z")
A bugged pen was rather prominently featured in the surveillance-paranoia movie _The Conversation_ with Gene Hackman. ---
**Author:** ![St\_Ides](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ccd318/32.png) [@St\_Ides](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St_Ides)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/38 "2007-01-11T22:50:45Z")
My silly, baseless, wild-assed guess: The coins aren’t from the Canadian government… Someone wants to know where these people are going. So you place an RFID tag in a Canadian coin, and surreptitiously track them via hidden RFID scanners. I’d also think that it’s not a government/international espionage thing. Probably just an overzealous company tracking their own employees. Sure they say that the contractors visited Canada, but how do they know that they brought these coins back? How many times have you found a Canadian coin in your change? The company gives out these coins as change in the company lunchroom. The employee puts the coin in their pocket, walks around the office. The RFID readers track which coins go where in their own facility… Whether it enters restricted areas, etc. Why Canadian coins? Quarters. The new commemorative quarters look very much like their American counterparts. The quarters aren’t accepted by vending machines and coffee shops that pay attention, so it’s likely that the coin will be kept by an employee for a longer period. Not to mention that any weight difference (if the coin were lighter or heavier) would be dismissed by the holder when they look at it (“Hey, this coin feels _different_. Oh, it’s Canadian, that explains it”) Then the coin is spent when the employee/coin holder goes somewhere else and spends it, and the clerk/cashier doesn’t notice. It’s then picked up by a contractor as change when they buy a coffee/cigarettes. The contractor then takes it to a secure facility, where it’s then discovered. I’d be looking at the companies in the area. Probably security companies. ---
**Author:** ![LionelHutz405](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lionelhutz405/32/536_2.png) [@LionelHutz405](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LionelHutz405)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2007, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/39 "2007-01-11T23:01:54Z")
Well, that is silly. It’s already easy to track who goes where via the passcard that must be scanned to get through security doors. It makes no sense at all to go to all the trouble and expense to embed a RFID into a coin and place scanners all over the place to accomplish the same thing. Makes for a good news story though, which is why lazy news organizations ran with it with what appears to be zero effort to verify anything. ---
**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 12, 2007, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398/40 "2007-01-12T00:19:48Z")
Perhaps this is not for tracking _people_, but for tracking _coins_. Or rather, the way coins distribute themselves & spread about. I wonder how many are circulating in Canada? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/spy-transmitters-hidden-in-canadian-coins/387398.md?page=3)