canada coin denominations

There are six denominations of Canadian circulation coinage in production: 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢, $1, and $2. Officially they are each named according to their value (e.g. "10-cent piece"), but in practice only the 50-cent piece is known by that name. The three smallest coins are known by the traditional names "nickel" (5¢), "dime" (10¢), and "quarter" (25¢), and the one-dollar and two-dollar coins are called the "loonie" (for the loon depiction on the reverse) and the "toonie" (a portmanteau of "two" and "loonie") respectively. The production of the Canadian 1-cent piece (known as the "penny") was discontinued in 2012, as inflation had reduced its value significantly below the cost of production. The 50¢ piece is far less circulated than other Canadian coins. Between the years 2000 and 2007 the Royal Canadian Mint struck less than 16 million of them; in comparison, during the same period over 2.25 billion quarters were released. This coin is sometimes called a "half-dollar". Other than the $2 coin (for which there is no United States analog), the denominations of Canadian coinage correspond to those of United States coinage. The sizes of the coins other than the 50¢ piece are roughly equal to those of U.S. coins, though this was not always the case. They have a different metallic composition and most of them are thinner, and thus weigh slightly less, than the analogous U.S. coins. The U.S. penny settled on its current size in 1857, whereas the Canadian penny was much larger (25.4 mm (1.00 in)) until 1920. Because they are easily mistaken for each other and the difference in their official value is generally small, modest quantities of U.S. and Canadian coins circulate at par in the other country, particularly near their shared border. Their differing physical characteristics prevent them from being accepted interchangeably by most coin-operated machines. There was formerly some correspondence between the size of Canadian coins and British coins of similar value. For example, the large Canadian penny was identical in size and value to the contemporary British half-penny, which was 25.4 mm (1.00 in) in the Edward VII version, and slightly larger during Victoria's reign. Likewise, the Canadian quarter (23.81 mm diameter) was virtually identical in size and value to the British shilling – worth 12 British pence or about 24 Canadian cents, with a 24-millimetre (15⁄16 in) diameter. The Canadian 5¢ coins, until the larger nickel coins of 1922, were 15 mm silver coins quite different from the U.S. "Liberty head" nickels of 1883–1913, which were 21.2 mm and copper-nickel alloy, but more like the older U.S. half dimes.