Canadian Money Info — Canadian bills and coins

Canadian Money

Canadian money is similar to American money but do not get them confused. The Canadian dollar is divided into 100 cents. The coin denominations are as follows: the 1¢ penny, the 5¢ nickel, the 10¢ dime, the 25¢ or the twenty five cent piece, the 50¢ cent piece, the $1 loonie and the $2 loonie. All of the coin denominations are similar to those of their American counterpart except for the fact that Canadian money has a $2 coin and 50¢ coin. Also, in Canadian terminology, they do not describe their 25¢ coin as a quarter rather a twenty five cent piece. All Canadian coins are produced by the Royal Canadian mint which is located in Winnipeg in Manitoba.

Canadian Banknotes
Canadian money also has various banknotes of different denominations. It is interesting that the banknotes for $1 and $2 were withdrawn once the coin version of the loonie was released. Currently the Canadian Bank Note Company in conjunction with the Bank of Canada release the 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 bank note. You may see $1000 banknotes as well. However, in the year 2000, these banknotes were no longer being produced and taken out of circulation. However, they are still considered legal tender. This was done to avoid counterfeit Canadian money. If a bank possesses the bill, it must be turned over to the Central Bank. Old Canadian money banknotes consisted of $1, $2, $5, $10, $50, $100, $500, $1000, $5000 and even $50,000 banknotes.

Money Exchange Rates
The Canadian money exchange rate has changed over the years. From 1950 to 1962 the Canadian dollar floated rather than being fixed. However, it became fixed after it drastically fell. The Canadian money conversion rate has been a competitor of the US dollar, often times matching if not exceeding the dollar, especially in the US dollar’s weakest periods.