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The design for the coin was meant to be a voyageur theme, similar to the country's previous one dollar/silver dollar coin, but the dies were lost in transit to the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg. In order to avoid counterfeiting problems a different design was used. The coin was released to the public on 30 June 1987.

It was unpopular until the government withdrew the one-dollar bill from circulation. The switch occurred when Brian Mulroney (which rhymes with "loonie") was Prime Minister; hence the coin was in its early years sometimes called "Mulroney's loonie," but this term has largely died out.

The coin has become the symbol of its currency, and as such, Loonie (huard in French) is a slang term for the Canadian dollar in general.

On occasion the coin has shown other images, for instance the War Memorial to commemorate VE day; it is still, however, referred to as a loonie.

The coin is made of bronze-electroplated nickel. The total composition of the coin is 91.5% nickel and 8.5% bronze; The bronze is about 88% copper and 12% tin.

1 See also

• Canadian currency
• Canadian EnglishCanadian English is the form of English used in Canada, spoken as a first language by more than 19 million people as of 2003. In many respects, the spelling of Canadian English is intermediate between British English and American English. However, the spo

2 External links

• Royal Canadian Mint
• The chemistry of the loonie

Loonie (short for lunatic) is an inclusive term used by residents of the lunar colony in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress by Robert Heinlein.