Money-Canada

There are 100 cents in a dollar.

Abbreviations

¢ = cent

$ = dollar

Coins

Each coin has a portrait of the Queen on the obverse.

• 1 cent - nicknamed a penny - copper coin with two maple leaves on the reverse (the penny was discontinued in 2013. Although any remaining ones are legal tender and can be used, you won't get them in change, and if you're paying cash, the sum owed will be rounded up or down to the nearest 5 cents)
• 5 cents - a nickel - silver coloured coin with a beaver on the reverse
• 10 cents - a dime - silver coloured coin with Bluenose (a celebrated and undefeated racing schooner launched on March 26, 1921 in Lunenburg, NS) on the reverse
• 25 cents - a quarter - silver coloured coin with a Caribou on the reverse
• $1 - a loonie - gold coloured coin with a bird called the loon on the reverse
• $2 - a toonie - coin with a silver coloured outer circle and a gold centre, with a polar bear on the reverse

All coins can occasionally have different images on their reverse depicting such things as the provinces, the Year of the Veteran, and other subjects and anniversaries pertinent to Canadian culture.

Bank Notes

• $5 - blue
• $10 - lilac
• $20 - green
• $50 - red
• $100 - brown

Image of Canadian Bank Notes on the Bank Of Canada Website:

http://www.bank-banque-canada.ca/en/banknotes/general/character/2001-04.html

Many retailers refuse to accept $50 and $100 notes because of forgeries.

Colloquial expressions

• That car nickelled and dimed me to death - Refers to a possession that requires so many expenditures that, although each one of them is small, it becomes financially crippling.
• A buck = A dollar