Hey, how'd that get there?

[vakkotaur]

Living in one of the northern states of the U.S.A. I'm used to seeing Canadian coinage from time to time. The pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters are all similarly colored and shaped, though the weight is slightly different, that they get passed along in the mix. That is, until one tries to turn in a jar of change at a bank or use the coins in a vending machine. A couple weeks ago I even wound up with a Loonie, the Canadian dollar coin which is similar to the latest version of the U.S. dollar coin.

So today as I looked through a few quarters it wasn't too surprising to find a quarter that doesn't look like it belongs with the rest. The edge milling or reeding is too fine, and there is a picture of Queen Elizabeth the Second on the obverse. On the reverse is a picture of a sailing ship. Huh. That's odd. Well, Canada did have special Millennium Quarters a few years back. Thanks to timmowarner I have a set of them. This is not one of them.

This coin has a date of 1996 and is from the East Caribbean States.

Comments

[shelbystripes.livejournal.com]

I keep getting Canadian nickels and quarters in my change from vending machines down here. And I'm in Texas.

The most frustrating thing about that is that the same vending machines refuse to take the same nickels and quarters. They'll only take American coins!

[melskunk.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I always wonder how that happens. Though, I can say for a fact, I knew one American who admited to useing his leftover change from Canadian trips in the US when he could get away with it, so that's probably why.

I do love how people will TOTALLY freak out if I mix up a Canadian penny in my payment of stuff in the States, though. I mean, dude, it's a penny, I didn't do it on purpose and I'm hardly trying to rip you off for OMG ONE CENT! Especially since I empty my wallet of Canadian money so it means someone passed me the bum cent first.

[melskunk.livejournal.com]

We get a lot of weird Carribean currency passed in Canada, especially pennies and dime sized stuff, since they have a Queen image. It's worth less than nothing, usually, so it's very frustrating, but it's also weird to see how many small islands are apparently still British protectorates.