Toonie

[too-nee]

Toonie (sometimes spelled Twonie or Twoonie) 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 by Public Works minister Diane Marleau, 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.

Naming

When the coin was introduced a number of nicknames were suggested. Some of the early ones included the bearie (analogous to the Loonie and its loon), the 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". In Vancouver, people were referring to the coin as "the peso" because it looked like a 10 peso coin from Mexico, and 10 pesos was worth about $2 Canadian at the time. Finally, the coin has been referred to as the Bouchard (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 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 both to the common polar bear sightings in Churchill, Manitoba and Winston Churchill.

Commemorative editions

Year	Theme	Artist	Mintage	Special Notes
1999	The founding of Nunavut	G. Arnaktavyok	25,130,000	Commemorating the founding of Nunavut, featuring an Inuit drummer
2000	Knowledge/Le Savoir	Tony Bianco	29,880,000	Millennium edition, the coin value "2 DOLLARS" appears on the obverse instead of on the reverse. It also features three polar bears.
2006	10th Anniversary	Tony Bianco	N/A	Featuring an updated polar bear image with a rising sun behind the bear. The first circulation coin to be introduced with the new 'mintmark'.

First strikes

Year	Theme	Mintage	Issue Price
2005	Polar Bear	2,375	$14.95
2006	10th Anniversary Toonie	5,000	$15.95
2006	New Mint Mark	5,000	$29.95

Miscellanea

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 reads "No person shall ... melt down, break up or use otherwise than as currency any coin that is current and legal tender in Canada." Punishment is a fine of up to $5000.00 and/or up to 5 years imprisonment.