# Want a silver florescent X-Filey guitar pick that is money in Canada? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 4, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825 "2018-04-04T19:32:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 4, 2018, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/1 "2018-04-04T19:32:40Z")
Well, [today is your lucky day](https://gizmodo.com/1967-ufo-encounter-immortalized-as-trippy-ass-glow-in-1824312931). ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/2 "2018-04-05T12:25:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > Well, [today is your lucky day](https://gizmodo.com/1967-ufo-encounter-immortalized-as-trippy-ass-glow-in-1824312931). I am flabbergasted. I usually think of our friends to the North as being the level-headed, practical, sane people. But I guess every so often they have a need to do something outrageous. you just KNOW that this coin is going to end up with an embarrassing nickname, like “loonies” or “twonies”. “I’m going to pay for it in SaucerDollars” “Do you have change for a UFOcoin?” ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/3 "2018-04-05T12:41:04Z")
Oy. How to Embrace the Stupid Collectibilty Angle 101. As a guitarist, I’d try that. I bet folks like Billy Gibbons and Brian May, who use coins for picks, would try ‘em! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/4 "2018-04-05T12:48:24Z")
To be fair, making weird small metal objects and calling them “coins” (even though they sell for much more than their face value) [is a popular thing these days](https://www.advanceloan.net/blog/25-bizarre-coins-that-are-legal-tender/). (That is just a sampling, there are plenty more.) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/5 "2018-04-05T12:52:39Z")
Also, a few years back Canada released a fancy quarter (this time actually a circulating coin) that caused a bit of a kerfuffle in the US over people [thinking it was a surveillance device](https://www.google.com/search?q=canada+spy+coin&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1). ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/6 "2018-04-05T13:33:39Z")
And now I’ve been down an interesting rabbit hole. Another news story about the UFO coin included a photo of it in a group with other coins, including a smaller coin with a “native-looking” frog illustration and looked like it might possibly be made of wood. Some googling showed it to [actually be gold](https://www.canadapost.ca/shop/from-the-royal-canadian-mint/coins-by-precious-metal/gold/p-245207.jsf;CPO_JSESSIONID=gZeV9xKjSzw2Nck0NZ9rCN1iUU3RDTmfSyAk8MQEQzVsRsuuyFff!-1368848556?execution=e1s1) (which I couldn’t tell from the low-resolution photo.) But in searching for “Canada frog coin” [I first came to](https://www.cdncoin.com/2014-20-Water-Lily-Frog-p/623932055186.htm) a series of 3-D coins with tiny glass figures of animals attached to them. I like those and [the dinosaur image ones](https://www.kazcoins.com/category/america/canada/). [And folklore](https://www.cdncoin.com/Folklore-Legends-s/3478.htm). But I suspect that CalMeacham will most appreciate the [comic](http://talismancoins.com/search.php?search_query=%22comic+book%22&Search=) [book](http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/12-oz.-fine-silver-coloured-coin---dc-comics%E2%84%A2-originals-unity--2015-prod2470101) [coins](http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/12-oz.-fine-silver-coloured-coin---dc-comics%E2%84%A2-originals-strength--2015-prod2470098). (tr;dl: I wish that I had a lot of money so that I could buy a lot of money.) ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/7 "2018-04-05T13:41:33Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > To be fair, making weird small metal objects and calling them “coins” (even though they sell for much more than their face value) [is a popular thing these days](https://www.advanceloan.net/blog/25-bizarre-coins-that-are-legal-tender/). (That is just a sampling, there are plenty more.) I was completely unaware of this. It’s like all those “black blot” stamps from back when I was a kid, those gadgety stamps never intended to be used to mail things, with lenticular 3D images on the surface, or printed on steel foil, or the like, issued solely so that amateur collectors would buy them and salt them away in their collections. Only now they’re doing it with money. Good luck finding a vending machine that’ll take your guitar-shaped coin. Black Blots: > [@](#): > > Controversy[edit] > > Around 1970, numerous newly independent countries realized that issuing stamps was an excellent source of revenue. Because the stamps were sent to other countries, there was little risk of the stamps actually being used for postage. Historically, a country issued stamps to commemorate an event or honor a national figure, but these new nations created stamps that appealed to popular collecting themes, such as Disney figures, airplanes or space, famous people in the world. Instead of releasing a single stamp, they would create a set, with values ranging from a penny to five dollars. The APS was appalled, and created the “black blot” program. The society published a monthly magazine for members, and began to include a list of new stamp issues that were judged to be overpriced or unnecessary. A country with high illiteracy and a marginal postal service did not require 100 different stamps each year. However, many collectors rebelled at being told to reject some stamps, and the program was eventually dropped.[3] > **[American Philatelic Society](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Philatelic_Society)** > > The American Philatelic Society (APS) is the largest nonprofit stamp collecting foundation of philately in the world. Both the membership and interests of the society are worldwide. > The organization, originally named the American Philatelic Association, was established on September 14, 1886 in New York City, and the following day elected John Kerr Tiffany as its first president. > Society membership reached over 4,000 in 1940 and included U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his Secretary of ... ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/8 "2018-04-05T15:37:34Z")
They only minted 4000 and they are already sold out. :mad: ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/9 "2018-04-05T15:46:10Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > And now I’ve been down an interesting rabbit hole. Another news story about the UFO coin included a photo of it in a group with other coins, including a smaller coin with a “native-looking” frog illustration and looked like it might possibly be made of wood. Some googling showed it to [actually be gold](https://www.canadapost.ca/shop/from-the-royal-canadian-mint/coins-by-precious-metal/gold/p-245207.jsf;CPO_JSESSIONID=gZeV9xKjSzw2Nck0NZ9rCN1iUU3RDTmfSyAk8MQEQzVsRsuuyFff!-1368848556?execution=e1s1) (which I couldn’t tell from the low-resolution photo.) But in searching for “Canada frog coin” [I first came to](https://www.cdncoin.com/2014-20-Water-Lily-Frog-p/623932055186.htm) a series of 3-D coins with tiny glass figures of animals attached to them. I like those and [the dinosaur image ones](https://www.kazcoins.com/category/america/canada/). [And folklore](https://www.cdncoin.com/Folklore-Legends-s/3478.htm). But I suspect that CalMeacham will most appreciate the [comic](http://talismancoins.com/search.php?search_query=%22comic+book%22&Search=) [book](http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/12-oz.-fine-silver-coloured-coin---dc-comics%E2%84%A2-originals-unity--2015-prod2470101) [coins](http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/12-oz.-fine-silver-coloured-coin---dc-comics%E2%84%A2-originals-strength--2015-prod2470098). > > (tr;dl: I wish that I had a lot of money so that I could buy a lot of money.) Leapin’ Lizards! (If you don’t mind my mixing comic metaphors) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/10 "2018-04-05T16:11:29Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > Leapin’ Lizards! > > (If you don’t mind my mixing comic metaphors) After that last post I did some more digging around in the Canadian coins. How about [a commemoration of one of their most famous citizens](http://www.mint.ca/store/coins/1-oz.-pure-silver-coloured-coin-%E2%80%93-iconic-emstar-trekemsuptmsup-scenes-emthe-trouble-with-tribblesem-2016-prod2680039)? ---
**Author:** ![Filbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/filbert/32/3433_2.png) [@Filbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Filbert)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/11 "2018-04-05T16:29:41Z")
Actually, Canada’s pretty well known for funky commemorative coins, including my personal favourite, the prehistoric critters with glow in the dark [skelingtons](https://www.mintageworld.com/story/detail/16-Canadian-Prehistoric-Creature-Coins-That-Really-Glow!/). The Royal Canadian mint is the actual manufacturer for quite a few ‘collectable’ coins for various countries- the dinky places that commission 'em often don’t have a mint at all- it’s not that surprising that they make some for their own country as well. Especially as mugs will buy 'em for crazy prices. You do wonder why they bother printing the ‘25 cents’ crap on at all though; should just print a link to some collector site to check the current price. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 5, 2018, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/12 "2018-04-05T16:46:42Z")
The RCM will make absolutely any coin you can possibly think of in an effort to make a buck. they will make any shape, any color, commemorating anything, in any denomination if they think they can sell five thousand of them to hungry collectors. And they almost always can. If you can’t think of a gift for so and so and want to get them something that says “I spent money on a gift for you and trust me, no one else got you this,” hie thee to the Royal Canadian Mint website 'cause those bad boys have your back. ---
**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:** [April 6, 2018, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/want-a-silver-florescent-x-filey-guitar-pick-that-is-money-in-canada/811825/13 "2018-04-06T03:09:27Z")
Sold out? Drat. I was hoping they’d have change for my [million-dollar](http://www.mint.ca/store/mint/about-the-mint/http%3A/www.mint.ca/store/mint/about-the-mint/million-dollar-coin-1600006#.WsbkdDopDk8) coin. Guess I’ll have to go back to the glow-in-the-dark toonies.