And they said it would never last.
Today marks the 20th anniversary of the introduction of the Canadian 2-dollar coin.
The toonie is no longer a teenager.
Once derided for being too heavy and cumbersome, and occasionally breaking into pieces, the bi-metal coin with the polar bear on the back is now as common as, well, loose change.
To honour the bear’s birthday, we offer these tidbits of toonie trivia:
- More than 882 million toonies have been minted since 1996. If you stacked them all up they would reach the equivalent height of almost 3,000 CN Towers.
- 510,000 toonies can be produced in one day at the Royal Canadian Mint’s plant in Winnipeg.
- To date, there have been 9 alternate, commemorative versions of the toonie.
- The polar bear actually has a name. It's Churchill.
- The estimated life expectancy of a toonie is over 30 years. Its predecessor, the 2-dollar bill, lasted 6 to 12 months. The durable coin was forecast to save $250 million in costs over 20 years.
- The system used to lock the core to the outer ring of the coin is patented by the Royal Canadian Mint. The odds of the two parts separating are 1 in 60 million.
- Deliberately forcing the two pieces apart is actually illegal.
- The outer ring is magnetic. The core is not.
- Despite rumours on social media, there are no plans to mint a $5 coin. The rumours apparently originated from an April Fools prank.
- Compared to its 1996 self, today's toonie is worth $1.39.
Happy birthday!
