I live a good distance from Canada, yet from time to time, I have Canadian coins given to me when making change. It is usually pennies or nickels, but oftentimes it is a dime. I rarely a get a quarter, but it does happen occasionally. I find it interesting that as far south of Canada that I live, I see Canadian currency fairly regularly. Granted, we have a large number of snow birds passing through twice a year headed to the Gulf Coast and then back north, so that could be a reason for the loose Canadian coins around here. We are only a couple of hours from the coast, so they could be drifting north after being spent by Canadians staying the winter at the beach. I have two questions for US and Canadians: 1. If you live near the border of the two countries, is there a large mingling of US and Canadian coins? 2. Do you Canadians who live a good distance from the US border see a lot of US currency floating around?
I'm about 1 hour north of Buffalo, so I guess that puts me in the "close to the border" category. I see a decent amount of American coins, but I wouldn't say there's a "large mingling". I'm in the US every few weeks, so I'd guess that most of the coins I see (in the truck cupholders, on my desk, etc) come from me. I rarely get US coins as change, and if I do they're usually nickels, dimes or pennies.
I live in Texas (You're shocked, I know) and about 3 or 4 times a year a Canadian coin comes trough the till at work, usually a Dime. Interestingly we rarely see a Mexican coin of any value. Perhaps it is the similarity in design that allow Canadian coins to flourish.
I hadn't really thought about this but living only an hour South of the border I rarely see Canadian coins in my change. Curiously when we visit International Falls which is on the border, I have noticed at least two to three dozen Canadian cars in the parking lot of the Menards or K-Mart parking lots.
I live in a border state and see Canadian coins once in a while. I would guess I see an equal distribution of coins from pennies to quarters. It seems to me that I have seen fewer in recent years than I have in the past. That is just an impression that I have, so take it with a grain of salt. I do think Belasar is onto something with the similarity angle. Also, in addition to snowbirds, there are also OTR truck drivers that may be transporting them from state to state.
I live right across the river from Detroit and worked in the US for 13 years. I am retired now but I still keep Canadian money in my left pocket and US currency in my right.
I seldom see American coins and we live close to the border and I would have to think that this is because for the longest time the American dollar was worth so much more than the Canadian so people would save them if they got one. Now with the dollars being about equal that doesn't matter so much any more, but old habits die hard and the wife still saves them. Keep your Canadian pennies as I believe that they are getting rid of them and in a hundred years or so they might be worth something. KTK
When I was growing up south of the Twin Cities I remember seeing a lot of Canadian coins my dad had collected from his fishing trips to Manitoba and Ontario over the years. I sometimes remember there were Canadian pennies or dimes in circulation. I almost never saw a quarter in circulation even that far north though.
I don't think it's a matter of close to the border thing. It's more like if a coins ressembles another. If it's a dime it's likely to be accidental, but most of the time the change we get is because of rip off attempts: a classical example : 2 euro coins (2.50 dollars and 50 turkish Kuru = 0.30 dollar! ) ATTENTION : SIZE IS NOT VALUE ! Since January 2005, Turkey has issued a 1 Lire coin, the new Lire that replaces the old one by the elimination of 6 zeros. This new coin happens to resemble almost exactly the 2 euro coins : they have the same appearance, with a nickel banda round a copper centre, and almost exactly the same size. Furthermore, one side has a person, just as the 2 euros has the King of Belgium, of Spain, Dante, etc…. The only obvious difference is that a « 1 » replaces the « 2 » , and the « 1 » resembles strangely the euro « 1 ». This Turkish coin is a legally difficult to challenge : it is worth 0.4 €.
US and Canadian coins are almost identical in size for coins of the same relative value. I live not far from Detroit and see a fair number of Canadian coins in change. When there is little or no difference in the value of the respective dollars most businesses and individuals don't really care. If there is a significant difference in exchange rates people become a bit more picky about it. Thinking back more years than I want to the Mexican centavo was about the same size and composition as the US penny. Wish I had a bunch of them now. At the time both they and the US penny were pretty much pure copper. That's no longer true of US penneys and I suspect Mexican centavos as at current metal prices the copper in one is worth more than a penny.
now when I think of it, I have already found canadian copper coins in my wallet too. They look like 2c and 5 euro cents as well
Here in Montana we used to see all kinds of Canadian coins in circulation, but no more. Banks won't take them in exchange and sort them out. The local stores won't accept Canadian coins for purchases, they too sort them out. Back in "ancient times", my teens and twenties, I used to exchange my US bills and coins at a local bank before going across the border and buying in Canada. On the way back I would exchange my remaining Canadian currency for Canadian coins, and turn them in at the same bank at full value. Cannot do that any more.
