The 411 - The "Toonie"

Toonie (sometimes spelled twoonie or twonie) is the name of the two-dollar coin, a combination of the number "two" with the name of the loonie, Canada's one-dollar coin. In Canadian French it is sometimes known as a polar, to rhyme with huard, for loonie.

Introduced on February 19, 1996, the toonie is a bi-metallic coin which bears an image of a polar bear, by Campbellford, Ontario artist Brent Townsend, on the reverse. The obverse, like all other current Canadian coins, has a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. It is the only coin in Canada to have the "ELIZABETH II / D.G. REGINA" in a different typeface; it is also the only coin to consistently bear its issue date on the obverse.

When the coin was introduced a number of nicknames were suggested. Some of the early ones included bearly, the deuce and the doubloonie (a play on "double loonie" and the former Spanish doubloon coin). A joke refers to the coin as "The Queen with the Bear Behind", and thus the moonie. Another joke poked fun at the then-weak Canadian dollar to American dollar exchange rate by suggesting that the coin be called "the American silver dollar"[citation needed]. Finally, the coin has been referred to as the Bouchard[citation needed] (after Quebec separatist leader Lucien Bouchard), due to a few reports of the inside disc of the coin separating from the outside in early coins.

Another angle to the name pairs the word "toonie" up with the "loonie" (one dollar coin) to complete the reference to "loonie toonie" or the famous and popular Looney Tunes cartoons; an indirect jibe at Canadian politicians who introduced the coins replacing the paper currency equivalents.

The name "toonie" became so widely accepted that in 2006 the Royal Canadian Mint secured the rights to it. A competition to name the bear resulted in the name "Churchill", a reference to the common polar bear spottings in Churchill, Manitoba.

Many toonies in the first shipment of the coins were considered defective, because they could separate if struck hard or frozen, as the centre piece would shrink more than the outside. This problem quickly garnered media attention and eventually was believed to have been corrected, and the initial wave of so-called toonie popping blew over a few months after the coin's introduction. Although the public appears to believe the toonies were "corrected," the coins can still be separated if struck hard or frozen. Such a "separated coin" may still be redeemed at a bank for its face value; however, Canada's Currency Act explicitly prohibits the deliberate "break up" of "any coin"

Interesting factoid: Here you see a "Mul-Loonie - a limited edition pin made by the Manitoba NDP to protest Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's introduction of the GST Bill into the House.

*From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia