# Why are American and Canadian coins so similar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 7, 2005, 4:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463 "2005-12-07T04:34:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/21 "2005-12-07T18:12:34Z")
> [@tbonham@scc.net](#): > > Probably because they originally were made of specific metals, and the size of the coin was related to the value of that amount of the metal. > > Pennies were made of copper. 1¢ worth of copper. Sometimes even called ‘coppers’. The original size of the coin was determined by how much copper the mint could get for 1¢. > Nickels were made of nickel, 5¢ worth of nickel. > Dimes were made of silver. They were smaller than both nickels & pennies because silver was more valuable, and that was as big a coin as you could make with a dime’s worth of silver. > [@Schnitte](#): > > I seriously doubt that, at least in the case of pennies and nickels. It would imply that the mint regularly changed the weight (and, accordingly, diameter and/or thickness) of the coins according to fluctuations in the prices of metals, which it didn’t. > It’s true that the value of money used to be pegged to the value of precious metals - prior to 1933, when possessing gold for monetary purposes was banned in the U.S., this was gold (at the rate of $20.67 per ounce), and until 1873 gold and silver were used parallelly under a system referred to as bimetallism, with a determined relation between the values of the two metals (16 to 1 in the case of the U.S. dollar). But this never extended to other metals than gold and silver. You’re both a little bit right and a little bit wrong. The difference is something called “seigneurage.” I hope **samclem** will be along with the Straight Dope, but pending his arrival and clarification, here’s what I know about it: Prior to the 1970s, the amount of silver in a silver coin, and to a lesser extent the metal in the cent and nickel, were **related to** but not **equal to** the value of the metal. If you brought $1,000 in gold nuggets to the mint, you’d get back some amount, say $970, in gold coins, the mint keeping the difference as a coinage fee. A silver dollar was supposed to have ninety-some cents worth of silver in it, the difference being the mint’s cost of making it. Because it was a quantity of precious metal that was easily understood as being worth its face value, it was accepted as that; you didn’t have to have a set of jeweler’s scales around to weigh out what $19.95 in nuggets and gold dust was worth; you handed the cashier a double eagle and got a nickel in change. That the double eagle had only $19.10 or so of gold in it, if it were to be melted down, was something you both lived with, a part of having an intrinsic-value system of exchange. ---
**Author:** ![Schnitte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/schnitte/32/9033_2.png) [@Schnitte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schnitte)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/22 "2005-12-07T19:20:14Z")
As far as I know, this was true for gold, but not for silver. Originally, the U.S. used a bimetallic system in which gold and silver were used as the basic coins of the monetary system. The weights of the coins were defined by statute: There were 23.22 something grains of gold to the dollar, and as 480 grains made up an ounce, this resulted in the peg of $20.67 to the ounce of gold. This was established in 1837, and at the same time, the weights of silver coins were defined in such a way that 16 ounces of silver were as valuable as one ounce of gold (because you needed 16 times more silver than gold to make a coin of equal value). In the following decades, however, the price of silver fell relatively to the price of gold. This increased the incentive for individuals to coin silver and melt down gold coins into bullion so much that in 1873, private coinage of silver was discontinued. Practically, this meant the U.S. were on a pure gold standard. Silver continued to be coined by the government, but only as subsidiary coins whose intrinsic value did not equal, not even nearly, their denomination (unlike gold coins). Because of this, they were not unlimited legal tender as gold coins were (I believe they had legal tender status only for transactions up to five or fifty dollars). Gold coins, and banknotes redeemable in gold, were unlimited legal tender. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/23 "2005-12-07T20:10:52Z")
> [@](#): > > Trivia: Canadian coins (except for the penny) are affected by magnets. American coins aren’t. If Seven’s right about the metals used, it’s because of the steel. Actually, it’s because of the nickel. Iron is not the only ferromagnetic metal; nickel and manganese will react much the same way to a magnet. We just don’t think of them that way because we encounter iron much more often than the others. And it depends on what year the nickel is from. I can’t tell you off the top of my head which is which, but Canada has changed the composition of their coins a few times, such that some of the Canadian 5-cent pieces currently in circulation are magnetic, and some are not. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/24 "2005-12-07T20:15:55Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > nickel and manganese will react much the same way to a magnet. We just don’t think of them that way because we encounter iron much more often. Nitpick: Not manganese. Cobalt is the other metal that is ferromagnetic (attracted by a magnet, or magnetizable, at ambient temperature. (Gadolinium is, too, but has a “Curie point” below ambient temperature.) Perhaps your impression comes from the fact that almost any alloy of manganese with any of the ferrous metals is ferromagnetic. “Manganese steel” is largely iron, with manganese and carbon admixtures. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/25 "2005-12-07T20:47:40Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > This to me seems like the closest we’ve gotten to an actual answer. Could someone (maybe our Coin Dealer/Mod?) verify? From 1962/05/02 until 1970/05/31, the Canadian dollar was pegged at $0.9250 USD +/-1%, under pressure from the IMF (to comply with their Bretton Woods system). In 1970, the Canadian government decided not to keep buying US dollars to keep the Canadian dollar within the 1% variance. The Canadian dollar surged immediately to $0.97 USD, and to a modern\* high of $1.0443 on 1974/04/23. Canadian coins, [according to Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_coins), have the following masses: $0.01 - 2.35g $0.05 - 3.95g $0.10 - 1.75g $0.25 - 4.4g The same site gives U.S. coin masses as: $0.01 - 2.5g $0.05 - 5g $0.10 - 2.268g $0.25 - 5.67g So, the short answer is that yes, U.S. coins are heavier than their Canadian counter-parts. In answer to the OP, mid-way down [this page](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_coins) is a paragraph that discusses the evolution of Canadian coins, and how they came to be similar to U.S. coins. - In much simpler monetary policy times, the variance was much greater. For instance, at one point during the U.S. Civil War, a Canadian dollar was worth $2.65 USD. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/26 "2005-12-07T21:07:49Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I’ve wondered about this for a long time, and I’ve never heard a satisfactory answer. > > I’m very skeptiocal of the “they used the same metals for the coins” suggestion. Even if this were true (I have my doubts), the Canadians could’ve used different metals than the US, or they could’ve used different thicknesses of the same metals, and then the coins would’ve had very different diameters For a hundred years + just about everyone used silver, and coins that weighed an Oz of silver and some reasonable % of that onze were common everywhere. The Thaler was about the same size as the (silver) Dollar, and so was the “piece of eight”- aka “Spanish dollar”. Sveral nations had “crowns” which were 1 oz of silver, and _mostly_ they were about the same size as a dollar. And, many nations had a “1/10th Oz of silver” coin too. The Canucks loosely based their currency upon both the Spanish dollar also, and quite possibley- the USA coins later. Same thing with gold coins- The British “soveriegn” is a 1/4 oz of Gold, and is nigh exactly the same size as the USA $5 gold piece- which was a 1/4 oz of gold. The one place were America went a little off was the quarter- many other nations had a fifth instead- and Canada did this for a while (and we might have had a 20cent piece once too?). .20 is more “metric” than .25. However, the “quarter” was VERY roughly based upon the spanish dollar (the piece of eight) which was sometimes split into 8 “bits” (thus “2 bits”= 1 quarter". So for a century or so, one could find a silver coin that was based upon a Oz, or a Gold coin upon a 1/4 Oz in many currencies (a whole OZ of gold was a LOT of money, and despite Western films to the contrary, the “double eagle” was a rather rare coin in circulation). ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/27 "2005-12-07T21:42:37Z")
Were Canadian coins ever minted in the US? I believe the US mints (or used to mint) coins for some smaller nations in the Caribbean and Latin America; it could be something as simple as having used some of the same equipment at one point and then people getting used to certain sizes. Am I barking up the wrong tree here…? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/28 "2005-12-07T21:46:02Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > Canadian coins are, in fact, slightly smaller in diameter than their US versions. That makes it easy for vending machines to separate them. > > Until some time in the Sixties, IIRC, the two currencies were pegged at par, and were commonly accepted across the border. Maybe that’s why the coinage was harmonized? > . On the one occasion I had to use American money in Vancouver the merchant was happy to accept it, but gave me my change at par, in Canadian currency. I lost a little but as the purchase was small it wasn’t anything to worry about. Do border area merchants south of the border accept Canadian money? ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/29 "2005-12-07T22:00:25Z")
In reference to my last stop, in the interest of full disclosure and to avoid being accused of making things up, I should mention that the business where I used my American money was the small hotdog stand/souvenier store in Stanley Park. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/30 "2005-12-07T22:07:42Z")
> [@Crandolph](#): > > Were Canadian coins ever minted in the US? I believe the US mints (or used to mint) coins for some smaller nations in the Caribbean and Latin America; it could be something as simple as having used some of the same equipment at one point and then people getting used to certain sizes. > > Am I barking up the wrong tree here…? Until the Royal Canadian Mint opened in 1908, Canadian coins were minted in the UK. As with the US Mint, the RCM also produces coins for other nations. ---
**Author:** ![Cerowyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/82dd89/32.png) [@Cerowyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cerowyn)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/31 "2005-12-07T22:15:04Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > On the one occasion I had to use American money in Vancouver the merchant was happy to accept it, but gave me my change at par, in Canadian currency. I lost a little but as the purchase was small it wasn’t anything to worry about. > > Do border area merchants south of the border accept Canadian money? From experience, many American merchants near Toronto accept Canadian currency. I have heard that the casino in Niagara Falls, New York accepts Canadian currency to compete with the bigger casinos on the Canadian side of the border, but I do not know if that’s true. Famously, many Detroit area merchants were briefly accepting Canadian currency at par as a gesture of thanks after Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor helped six American hostages escape from their captors during the Iran Hostage Crisis. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/32 "2005-12-07T22:41:09Z")
American coinage is accepted in Canada at par. American bills are accepted with an appropriate exchange rate used. (about $1.15 right now I think - maybe higher). (with some exceptions). The Royal Canadian Mint doesn’t care one iota about US pop machines, and Canadian coinage doesn’t work in them anyway. Further, Canadian and UK coins are very similar as well - a Canadian dime and a UK (dime - don’t remember what they’re called) are pretty well identical. Their pound coins are different than our dollar coins, but the smaller stuff is pretty similar. In fact, I would say that Canadian coins are actually _CLOSER_ to UK coins than US coins. I say this because I never mistake a US coin for a Canadian one, but the UK coins I often have to do a double take. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/33 "2005-12-07T22:41:46Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > This is completely wrong. If you go into any Canadian store (small mom and pop stores excepted, and even there this is true at most of them), they will give you an exchange rate for your U.S. money that is close to what you would get from a bank (it’s not exactly the same, the stores _are_ making money on the transaction, but it’s close enough that usually it’s not worth the extra time and hassle to go to a bank unless there is one right next door.). I’m talking from extensive experience, eh? Maybe we patronize different stores when we go to Canada. > [@](#): > > Saying that all Canadian stores accept U.S. money “At par or close to it” is completely false. I \*didn’t \* say “all”. > [@](#): > > Making shit up may be par for the course for you in GD or the Pit, but here in GQ there is a higher standard. :dubious: > [@Crandolph](#): > > I believe the US mints (or used to mint) coins for some smaller nations in the Caribbean and Latin America I know the US Mint makes Bermuda’s coins under contract, and theirs are the same size as Canada’s (and feel the same weight, too). ---
**Author:** ![Weirddave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/919ad9/32.png) [@Weirddave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Weirddave)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/34 "2005-12-07T22:51:04Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > I’m talking from extensive experience, eh? Maybe we patronize different stores when we go to Canada. > > I \*didn’t \* say “all”. :dubious: And it appears from what other posters have said that par may be standard for coins (although you said dollars), so it looks like I might be wrong here anyway. I’ve never had them exchanged at par except in the smallest of stores. ---
**Author:** ![alice\_in\_wonderland](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alice_in_wonderland/32/176_2.png) [@alice\_in\_wonderland](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alice_in_wonderland)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2005, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/35 "2005-12-07T23:00:15Z")
> [@Weirddave](#): > > And it appears from what other posters have said that par may be standard for coins (although you said dollars), so it looks like I might be wrong here anyway. I’ve never had them exchanged at par except in the smallest of stores. **Dave** if your purchase is $0.38 canadian, and you pay with US coins, you have to pay $0.38 US. If your purchase is $19.23 CAD, the entire amount you pay will be given exchange. You will pay (About) $16.34 USD. The $0.34 US will still get the exchange rate, but only because it’s attached to the $16.00. Does that make sense? ---
**Author:** ![Savannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/36 "2005-12-08T05:34:36Z")
I just found out about the money/magnet thing yesterday! It was hot dog day for the United Way, and I had some toonies to pay for a hot dog and donate. I stuck an envelope on my paper holder thingee (don’t ask, I don’t know what it’s called, either) that has two magnets and my toonies stuck! Kept me amused for at least five minutes, it did. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/37 "2005-12-08T06:05:04Z")
> [@alice\_in\_wonderland](#): > > Further, Canadian and UK coins are very similar as well - a Canadian dime and a UK (dime - don’t remember what they’re called) are pretty well identical. Their pound coins are different than our dollar coins, but the smaller stuff is pretty similar. Gosh, that just isn’t true at all. The U.K. “dime” at 24.5 mm is much larger than the Canadian dime, which is 18mm; in fact, it’s larger than our quarter. The British FIVE pence coin looks like our dime, and they have no quarter. We don’t have a 20 cent peice, and our quarter and their 20-cent look totally different. The only coins that look the same are the pennies. ---
**Author:** ![Seven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Seven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Seven)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/38 "2005-12-08T06:27:27Z")
> [@psychonaut](#): > > That wasn’t very nice of you. The vast majority of Canadian banks will not accept US coins, except possibly in bulk. The coin would have been worthless to him unless he was planning on visiting the US. Once he learned what it was, and stopped laughing at the size, he thought it was pretty cool. It turned into a keepsake for him. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 7:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/39 "2005-12-08T07:26:07Z")
[Moderator hat on] > [@Weirddave](#): > > . > Saying that all Canadian stores accept U.S. money “At par or close to it” is completely false. Making shit up may be par for the course for you in GD or the Pit, but here in GQ there is a higher standard. **Dave** Please leave the snide comments for other fora. You know better. We have a higher standard here in GQ, or so I’ve heard. ---
**Author:** ![Queuing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/90ced4/32.png) [@Queuing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queuing)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463/40 "2005-12-08T15:58:24Z")
A WAG, for whatever its worth, but I would say that it could lie in the machines used to make the coins. I can’t imagine that whatever company makes these for the mints would bother to design 2 different machines, so the Mints each got 1, or however many, and they are basically the same. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-american-and-canadian-coins-so-similar/334463.md?page=3)