I was just sorting through my precious metal coins and foreign coins, and came across a
1982 Canadian Nickel Dollar like this. Now, I’m no numismatist. I’m not really interested in coin collecting for collecting’s sake. (I have no idea how I even came across this coin.) So, what can I do with this coin? Can it be spent in Canada (I do visit sometimes) like Loonies and bills? Or will people look at me like I’m crazy? Or am I crazy to spend it–is it worth more than a dollar based on its collectibility? (It’s condition is not fantastic or anything.)
Just worth a dollar. Spend it next time you’re in Canukistan.
It’s known, both colloquially and numismatically, as a “silver dollar”, even though the mint stopped making them out of silver in 1968. Any such coins from that year or later are worth their face value. They’re not particularly rare; go ahead and spend it. I used to stock up on them from banks (who were usually glad to be rid of them) because I liked the novelty of spending them instead of loonies. I’d sometimes get some strange looks, but the coins were almost always accepted by retailers. Only cashiers who were recent immigrants had problems with them.
I’m strange and collect various coins that aren’t worth very much more than the face value of the coin. Don’t really know why coins have an attraction to me, something about a small indication of something about a country.
I agree that it is legal tender and stores should accept them (although expect some surprise from the person taking your money; I didn’t see them very often even back in the pre-Loonie days). If you did get any flak from a store you could always wander into the nearest bank and trade it in. That would be even more practical if you had a bunch of them.