A Precious Lesson – A Tale of Canadian Coins

[Junior]

A Precious Lesson – A Tale of Canadian Coins

By: Jordan Graveline

 

In July of 1840, the Act of Union was passed which would abolish the legislatures of Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario). The Act of Union was officially proclaimed on February 10th, 1841 and with this new proclamation, a new political area known as the Province of Canada was formed. It would be another 27 years after the Act of Union passed that the new Dominion of Canada would form and thus the birth of the Canadian nation would begin its expanding journey.

In the later years of the Province of Canada’s existence, but before its formation as a country in 1867, it was decided that new coinage would be required for the expanding area. This new coinage would be minted for the Province of Canada by the Royal Mint in England. The first of the new coins would be minted in 1858 and consist of 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 20 cent pieces. The following year would see only the 1 cent pieces minted for the Province of Canada. No more new coins would be minted until after the formation of the Dominion of Canada.

The Royal mint resumed minting coins for the newly formed country in 1870. It was decided to make several changes from the previous coins originally minted in 1858. These changes included dropping the 20 cent piece in favour of a 25 cent piece to more closely match the coins of Canada’s nearest trading partner; the United States of America. In addition, a new 50 cent piece was also minted. The Royal Mint would continue minting coins for Canada up to 1907. Canada would have its own minting facility, known as the Ottawa Mint, up and operational by January 2nd of 1908. With this new minting facility, Canada would no longer rely on England to produce any future coinage for the country.

During the time of 1870-1907 when the Royal Mint was responsible for Canada’s coinage and from 1908-1919 when Canada resumed responsibility on its own, the composition of Canadian coins was consistent. The 1 cent piece contained 95.5% copper, 3% tin, and 1.5% zinc while the 5 cent, 10 cent, 25 cent, and 50 cent pieces all contained 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. However by 1920, Canada’s 1 cent piece was reduced in size by approximately 43% and the rest of the denominations would have their compositions changed from 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper to 80% silver and 20% copper in that same year. Furthermore in 1922, Canada’s 5 cent piece would cease containing silver and would have an entirely new composition consisting of 99% pure nickel (hence were the coin gets its modern day name). In 1935, a 1 dollar coin would be introduced and contain the same composition of 80% silver and 20% copper as the pieces from 1920. These changes would not be the last to Canada’s coins as more developments would continue in the coming decades.

Beginning in 1968, the 10 cent (dime), the 25 cent (quarter), the 50 cent (half dollar), and the 1 dollar coins would all make the transition to 99% (or greater) nickel composition. Present day, none of the modern coins intended for circulation in commerce contains any silver. Even the lesser valued, more abundant nickel metal, has since been replaced by an even cheaper, more abundant metal; steel. Today, most coins have had their composition changed to 92% steel or greater with a mix of small amounts of copper and/or nickel to create specific finishes on Canada’s various coins. The exception to this being the 1 cent coin, often referred to as the penny, which was discontinued after 2012; but not before also undergoing a change in composition from 98% copper (1996) to 98.4% zinc or 94% steel beginning in 2000. In every situation where the coinage underwent a change in composition, it was always away from a more valued metal and towards a cheaper, more abundant metal.

When the silver content was first changed in 1920, rising costs that resulted from WWI were to blame. Silver had gone from a low of $0.51 per ounce in January of 1915 to a high of $1.13 per ounce in January of 1919 which held steady throughout that year. Not long after the reduction of silver in the Canadian coins took place, the cost of silver fell and stabilized down to $0.63 per ounce in January of 1921. However, a return to the higher standard of purity never took place and the silver composition in Canadian coins remained at 80%. The next biggest change would be the total removal of all silver content which was accomplished in 1968.

Leading up to the total removal of silver from the coinage, silver’s price once again began to rise. In January of 1962, silver had climbed over the one dollar mark to reach a 42 year high of $1.09 per ounce. The following January, it was higher still at $1.29 per ounce. From January of 1963 until April of 1967, silver fluctuated a bit; ranging from a low of $1.29 to a high of $1.31 per ounce. During that time, the United States of America had passed the Coinage Act of 1965 which effectively removed all silver from circulating coins and authorized the production of clad coins. Canada followed suit in 1968 and was one of the last countries to have any silver content in circulating coins. The rising cost of silver seems to be the reason for its abolishment from Canadian coinage and all one needs to do is look at the final year in which Canadian coins contained silver to understand this concept.

The Canadian dollar in 1967 had a silver composition of 80% and a coin weight of 23.3 grams. This meant that a silver dollar from 1967 contained approximately 0.6 ounces of silver. At the beginning of 1967 when silver was valued at $1.29 per ounce, a Canadian dollar would have had a melt value of $0.774 due to the silver content of the coin. This is of course, less than the one dollar face value of the coin. However, by December of 1967, silver rose to $2.25 per ounce which would make the silver content in the coin now valued at $1.35. This is a 174.4% gain in silver melt value in one year. The silver value now being greater than the face value of the dollar coin posed a problem; the coins of all denominations containing silver would be very tempting to melt down and profit from the sale of their silver content. This is undoubtedly one of the prime reasons why silver was fully removed from coinage; it was considered too valuable to use as money. To understand whether or not the removal of silver was beneficial to the Canadian citizens, a comparison should be made involving the average salary of 1967 and the average salary from 2022.

According to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, in 1967, the average Canadian salary for a person in manufacturing was $7,419. Assuming for a moment that this person had an affinity to silver coinage over the paper dollar counterpart, the silver contained within those 7,419 silver dollars would be equal to 4,451.4 ounces of silver. At the end of December 1967, with silver being valued at $2.25 per ounce, 4,451.4 ounces of silver would have a melt value of $10,015.65. Fast forward to modern day Canadian circulation coins, they do not contain any silver. Therefore, the melt value of modern day circulation coins cannot be used for direct comparison. Rather, the average salary in manufacturing in 2022 could be compared to the average salary in manufacturing in 1967 through the number of silver ounces that can be bought with that salary. According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, the average Canadian salary in manufacturing was $60,531. Since silver finished 2022 valued at $32.52 per ounce, this individual could only afford to buy 1,861.3 ounces of silver with their salary. To give a different perspective, if this individual in 2022 was paid the same salary from 1967 of $7,419 using only the same 1967 silver dollars containing 4,451.4 ounces of silver, then the silver content at $32.52 per ounce would have a melt value of $144,759.53. As seen through these comparisons, removing silver from Canadian coins did not benefit the Canadian citizens. The average person in a manufacturing job in 2022 is only making approximately 41.8% of the salary that the average person in 1967 made in a manufacturing job when viewing the value of the coinage through the lens of silver.

 

 The Devaluation of Canadian Coins throughout the Decades

	1858 - 1859	1876 - 1920	1920 - 1941	1942 - 1977	1978 - 1996	1997 - 1999	2000 - 2012	2000 - 2012	2013 - present
1 Cent (large) *last produced in 1920	95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1 Cent (small) *first produced in 1920			95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc	98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating	94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating (magnetic)	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating (Non-magnetic)	dis-continued
	1858, 1870 - 1919	1920 - 1921	1922 - 1942	1942 - 1943	1944 - 1945	1946 - 1951	1951 - 1954	1955 - 1981	1982 - 1999	2000 - present
5 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99% nickel	88% copper, 12% zinc (tombac)	chrome plated steel	99.9% nickel	chrome plated steel	99.9% nickel	75% copper, 25% nickel	94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel plating
	1858, 1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
10 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	92% steel, 5.5% copper, 2.5% nickel
	1858	1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
20 Cent *replaced by the 25 cent piece	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
25 Cent		92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	94% steel, 3.8% copper, 2.2% nickel

 

	1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
50 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99% nickel (minimum)	93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating
	1935 - 1967	1968 - 1982	1982 - 1986	1987 - 2012	2012 - present
1 Dollar	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	99% nickel (minimum)	91.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating	multi-ply brass plated steel
	1996 - 2012	2012 - present
2 Dollar	outer ring: 99% nickel    insert: 92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel	outer ring: multi-ply nickel plated steel   insert: multi-ply brass plated aluminum bronze

[CollectForFun]

2 hours ago, Junior said:

As seen through these comparisons, removing silver from Canadian coins did not benefit the Canadian citizens.

Are you sure that your 2022 Canadian worker isn't better off than a 1967 one? In terms of general living conditions, purchasing power (other than expressed in silver), public services available... If you agree, couldn't one claim this improvement was made possible by actually removing silver from Canadian coins..?

You see, it's very tempting to connect A and B and claim one influenced the other, but that's just an oversimplified view. Your analysis only proves that purchasing power expressed in silver decreased between 1967 and 2022 without any argument supporting that this decrease was caused by removing silver from Canadian coins.

In fact, it is really not sustainable to have a coin with higher melt value than nominal, so with increasing silver price, it was perfectly understandable to abolish silver coins. If once copper dramatically increases in price and copper coins will be removed from circulation and replaced by e.g. porcelain coins, will you also write in 40 years that this had not benefitted Canadian citizens?

[Junior]

@CollectForFunYou have a very honest and reasonable argument. One which I cannot and will not dispute because I agree with you. My standard of living is in fact better than my father's and most definitely better than my father's father. One could argue this fact, as you have pointed out, because silver was in fact removed from the coinage.

That being said, with the limited amount that I wrote, the purchasing power of the Canadian currency as expressed in silver did decrease between 1967 and 2022. That was the only point to be made without writing a 250+ page book to better express anything else LOL.

Joking aside, I would love your opinion on the following: 

8 hours ago, CollectForFun said:

In fact, it is really not sustainable to have a coin with higher melt value than nominal, so with increasing silver price, it was perfectly understandable to abolish silver coins.

My query to you @CollectForFunDo you even need to have a nominal value on a coin to have a functioning currency? Why not simply have a coin's purity and weight? Then the value of the currency can be decided by the free markets and possibly be more stable as in the Roman times (before they debased their silver and gold coinage with copper).

I would love to get your opinion  

[CollectForFun]

6 hours ago, Junior said:

Do you even need to have a nominal value on a coin to have a functioning currency? Why not simply have a coin's purity and weight? Then the value of the currency can be decided by the free markets and possibly be more stable as in the Roman times (before they debased their silver and gold coinage with copper).

I would love to get your opinion  

Honestly, I have no idea what would happen if nominal value would again be replaced by weight and purity. For quite long periods of time in the past, coins did not have any denomination stated on them. You had like a large coin, a small coin, and sometimes something in between. As you can imagine, it was probably not very easy and practical to use them for everyday transactions. So adding nominal value on coins can perhaps be seen as an improvement to ability to use them as a means of exchange, which might have helped the economic development.

In the past, monetary systems might have been more stable also because there was not so much to buy with your money. But I really don't know, sorry.

[LawrenceChard]

18 hours ago, Junior said:

A Precious Lesson – A Tale of Canadian Coins

By: Jordan Graveline

 

In July of 1840, the Act of Union was passed which would abolish the legislatures of Lower Canada (Quebec) and Upper Canada (Ontario). The Act of Union was officially proclaimed on February 10th, 1841 and with this new proclamation, a new political area known as the Province of Canada was formed. It would be another 27 years after the Act of Union passed that the new Dominion of Canada would form and thus the birth of the Canadian nation would begin its expanding journey.

In the later years of the Province of Canada’s existence, but before its formation as a country in 1867, it was decided that new coinage would be required for the expanding area. This new coinage would be minted for the Province of Canada by the Royal Mint in England. The first of the new coins would be minted in 1858 and consist of 1 cent, 5 cent, 10 cent, and 20 cent pieces. The following year would see only the 1 cent pieces minted for the Province of Canada. No more new coins would be minted until after the formation of the Dominion of Canada.

The Royal mint resumed minting coins for the newly formed country in 1870. It was decided to make several changes from the previous coins originally minted in 1858. These changes included dropping the 20 cent piece in favour of a 25 cent piece to more closely match the coins of Canada’s nearest trading partner; the United States of America. In addition, a new 50 cent piece was also minted. The Royal Mint would continue minting coins for Canada up to 1907. Canada would have its own minting facility, known as the Ottawa Mint, up and operational by January 2nd of 1908. With this new minting facility, Canada would no longer rely on England to produce any future coinage for the country.

During the time of 1870-1907 when the Royal Mint was responsible for Canada’s coinage and from 1908-1919 when Canada resumed responsibility on its own, the composition of Canadian coins was consistent. The 1 cent piece contained 95.5% copper, 3% tin, and 1.5% zinc while the 5 cent, 10 cent, 25 cent, and 50 cent pieces all contained 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. However by 1920, Canada’s 1 cent piece was reduced in size by approximately 43% and the rest of the denominations would have their compositions changed from 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper to 80% silver and 20% copper in that same year. Furthermore in 1922, Canada’s 5 cent piece would cease containing silver and would have an entirely new composition consisting of 99% pure nickel (hence were the coin gets its modern day name). In 1935, a 1 dollar coin would be introduced and contain the same composition of 80% silver and 20% copper as the pieces from 1920. These changes would not be the last to Canada’s coins as more developments would continue in the coming decades.

Beginning in 1968, the 10 cent (dime), the 25 cent (quarter), the 50 cent (half dollar), and the 1 dollar coins would all make the transition to 99% (or greater) nickel composition. Present day, none of the modern coins intended for circulation in commerce contains any silver. Even the lesser valued, more abundant nickel metal, has since been replaced by an even cheaper, more abundant metal; steel. Today, most coins have had their composition changed to 92% steel or greater with a mix of small amounts of copper and/or nickel to create specific finishes on Canada’s various coins. The exception to this being the 1 cent coin, often referred to as the penny, which was discontinued after 2012; but not before also undergoing a change in composition from 98% copper (1996) to 98.4% zinc or 94% steel beginning in 2000. In every situation where the coinage underwent a change in composition, it was always away from a more valued metal and towards a cheaper, more abundant metal.

When the silver content was first changed in 1920, rising costs that resulted from WWI were to blame. Silver had gone from a low of $0.51 per ounce in January of 1915 to a high of $1.13 per ounce in January of 1919 which held steady throughout that year. Not long after the reduction of silver in the Canadian coins took place, the cost of silver fell and stabilized down to $0.63 per ounce in January of 1921. However, a return to the higher standard of purity never took place and the silver composition in Canadian coins remained at 80%. The next biggest change would be the total removal of all silver content which was accomplished in 1968.

Leading up to the total removal of silver from the coinage, silver’s price once again began to rise. In January of 1962, silver had climbed over the one dollar mark to reach a 42 year high of $1.09 per ounce. The following January, it was higher still at $1.29 per ounce. From January of 1963 until April of 1967, silver fluctuated a bit; ranging from a low of $1.29 to a high of $1.31 per ounce. During that time, the United States of America had passed the Coinage Act of 1965 which effectively removed all silver from circulating coins and authorized the production of clad coins. Canada followed suit in 1968 and was one of the last countries to have any silver content in circulating coins. The rising cost of silver seems to be the reason for its abolishment from Canadian coinage and all one needs to do is look at the final year in which Canadian coins contained silver to understand this concept.

The Canadian dollar in 1967 had a silver composition of 80% and a coin weight of 23.3 grams. This meant that a silver dollar from 1967 contained approximately 0.6 ounces of silver. At the beginning of 1967 when silver was valued at $1.29 per ounce, a Canadian dollar would have had a melt value of $0.774 due to the silver content of the coin. This is of course, less than the one dollar face value of the coin. However, by December of 1967, silver rose to $2.25 per ounce which would make the silver content in the coin now valued at $1.35. This is a 174.4% gain in silver melt value in one year. The silver value now being greater than the face value of the dollar coin posed a problem; the coins of all denominations containing silver would be very tempting to melt down and profit from the sale of their silver content. This is undoubtedly one of the prime reasons why silver was fully removed from coinage; it was considered too valuable to use as money. To understand whether or not the removal of silver was beneficial to the Canadian citizens, a comparison should be made involving the average salary of 1967 and the average salary from 2022.

According to the Dominion Bureau of Statistics, in 1967, the average Canadian salary for a person in manufacturing was $7,419. Assuming for a moment that this person had an affinity to silver coinage over the paper dollar counterpart, the silver contained within those 7,419 silver dollars would be equal to 4,451.4 ounces of silver. At the end of December 1967, with silver being valued at $2.25 per ounce, 4,451.4 ounces of silver would have a melt value of $10,015.65. Fast forward to modern day Canadian circulation coins, they do not contain any silver. Therefore, the melt value of modern day circulation coins cannot be used for direct comparison. Rather, the average salary in manufacturing in 2022 could be compared to the average salary in manufacturing in 1967 through the number of silver ounces that can be bought with that salary. According to Statistics Canada, in 2022, the average Canadian salary in manufacturing was $60,531. Since silver finished 2022 valued at $32.52 per ounce, this individual could only afford to buy 1,861.3 ounces of silver with their salary. To give a different perspective, if this individual in 2022 was paid the same salary from 1967 of $7,419 using only the same 1967 silver dollars containing 4,451.4 ounces of silver, then the silver content at $32.52 per ounce would have a melt value of $144,759.53. As seen through these comparisons, removing silver from Canadian coins did not benefit the Canadian citizens. The average person in a manufacturing job in 2022 is only making approximately 41.8% of the salary that the average person in 1967 made in a manufacturing job when viewing the value of the coinage through the lens of silver.

 

 The Devaluation of Canadian Coins throughout the Decades

	1858 - 1859	1876 - 1920	1920 - 1941	1942 - 1977	1978 - 1996	1997 - 1999	2000 - 2012	2000 - 2012	2013 - present
1 Cent (large) *last produced in 1920	95% copper, 4% tin, 1% zinc	95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc
1 Cent (small) *first produced in 1920			95.5% copper, 3% tin, 1.5% zinc	98% copper, 0.5% tin, 1.5% zinc	98% copper, 1.75% tin, 0.25% zinc	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating	94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper plating (magnetic)	98.4% zinc, 1.6% copper plating (Non-magnetic)	dis-continued
	1858, 1870 - 1919	1920 - 1921	1922 - 1942	1942 - 1943	1944 - 1945	1946 - 1951	1951 - 1954	1955 - 1981	1982 - 1999	2000 - present
5 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99% nickel	88% copper, 12% zinc (tombac)	chrome plated steel	99.9% nickel	chrome plated steel	99.9% nickel	75% copper, 25% nickel	94.5% steel, 3.5% copper, 2% nickel plating
	1858, 1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
10 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	92% steel, 5.5% copper, 2.5% nickel
	1858	1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
20 Cent *replaced by the 25 cent piece	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper
25 Cent		92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	94% steel, 3.8% copper, 2.2% nickel

 

	1870 - 1919	1920 - 1967	1968 - 1999	2000 - present
50 Cent	92.5% silver, 7.5% copper	80% silver, 20% copper	99% nickel (minimum)	93.15% steel, 4.75% copper, 2.1% nickel plating
	1935 - 1967	1968 - 1982	1982 - 1986	1987 - 2012	2012 - present
1 Dollar	80% silver, 20% copper	99.9% nickel	99% nickel (minimum)	91.5% nickel, 8.5% bronze plating	multi-ply brass plated steel
	1996 - 2012	2012 - present
2 Dollar	outer ring: 99% nickel    insert: 92% copper, 6% aluminum, 2% nickel	outer ring: multi-ply nickel plated steel   insert: multi-ply brass plated aluminum bronze

So after all that, what exactly was / is the precious lesson?

😎

[LawrenceChard]

19 hours ago, Junior said:

@CollectForFunYou have a very honest and reasonable argument. One which I cannot and will not dispute because I agree with you. My standard of living is in fact better than my father's and most definitely better than my father's father. One could argue this fact, as you have pointed out, because silver was in fact removed from the coinage.

That being said, with the limited amount that I wrote, the purchasing power of the Canadian currency as expressed in silver did decrease between 1967 and 2022. That was the only point to be made without writing a 250+ page book to better express anything else LOL.

Joking aside, I would love your opinion on the following: 

My query to you @CollectForFunDo you even need to have a nominal value on a coin to have a functioning currency? Why not simply have a coin's purity and weight? Then the value of the currency can be decided by the free markets and possibly be more stable as in the Roman times (before they debased their silver and gold coinage with copper).

I would love to get your opinion  

Gold sovereigns do not state their nominal value, although neither do they state their purity and weight. They don't seem to be very commonly used in circulation for everyday purchases.

Krugerrands do state their gold content, but there is little evidence that they are used in circulation.

Many other gold, silver, platinum, and palladium coins also state their weight and purity, and yet again, there is little evidence that they are used much for everyday purchases.

Some of these coins are Canadian, how many have you used to buy things with recently, or at all?

😎

Edited February 11, 2023 by LawrenceChard

[Junior]

6 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

how many have you used to buy things with recently, or at all?

Well, the closest event I can think of was 6 weeks ago when I was down in Florida for vacation. I had flown down there with a tube of mostly common Morgans dollars in search of a rarer Morgan dollar. Found what I was looking for and paid for the rarer Morgan dollar using almost all of the common Morgan dollars I had brought with me. The purchase involved using silver to buy silver and no currency was exchanged in the process. The value of what I was offering was compared to the value of what the seller wanted and we negotiated until a deal was reached. This might not be exactly what you’re asking for, but it’s the closest thing I can think of.

[LawrenceChard]

5 hours ago, Junior said:

Well, the closest event I can think of was 6 weeks ago when I was down in Florida for vacation. I had flown down there with a tube of mostly common Morgans dollars in search of a rarer Morgan dollar. Found what I was looking for and paid for the rarer Morgan dollar using almost all of the common Morgan dollars I had brought with me. The purchase involved using silver to buy silver and no currency was exchanged in the process. The value of what I was offering was compared to the value of what the seller wanted and we negotiated until a deal was reached. This might not be exactly what you’re asking for, but it’s the closest thing I can think of.

From what you say, it looks like you did an exchange at a coin shop. This is hardly comparable with using gold and silver to purchase groceries, and other everyday shopping / spending activities.

😎

[Petra]

Come round mine with some gold or silver coins and I will sell you some groceries 😮🤔

[Junior]

11 hours ago, LawrenceChard said:

From what you say, it looks like you did an exchange at a coin shop. This is hardly comparable with using gold and silver to purchase groceries, and other everyday shopping / spending activities.

Exchange vs purchase, are these two words not synonyms?

A store values a bottle of Coke and a bag of potato chips at $5 in the local currency. So I exchange / purchase / buy / trade / swap a five dollar bill from my wallet for the goods being offered.

Regardless of the type of goods being considered, the transaction I conducted down in Florida used silver. Call it exchange or purchase or any other synonym.

I’m by no means trying to be facetious. One of my first silver coins came to me in my change years ago. Bought a coffee from a store and paid with toonie ($2 coin). Received a quarter (25 cent coin) made of silver in my change. This is the kind of transaction you are referring to @LawrenceChard?

[Junior]

8 hours ago, Petra said:

Come round mine with some gold or silver coins and I will sell you some groceries 😮🤔

People might have to if ever we were thrust into a modern dark age 😂 

[LawrenceChard]

4 minutes ago, Junior said:

Exchange vs purchase, are these two words not synonyms?

 

No!

😎

[Roy]

'Canada once exchanged CAD$1.5 million dollars (£300,000) for eight million square kilometres of land (almost 25% of North America) with the Hudson Bay Company, a British fur trader.'

Doesn't sound right?

 

[Junior]

1 hour ago, LawrenceChard said:

1 hour ago, Junior said:

Exchange vs purchase, are these two words not synonyms?

 

No!

😎

[Junior]

On 11/02/2023 at 05:20, LawrenceChard said:

From what you say, it looks like you did an exchange at a coin shop. This is hardly comparable with using gold and silver to purchase groceries, and other everyday shopping / spending activities.

@LawrenceChard I was thinking about this the other day and I wanted to give an update. While my wife and I were on our honeymoon this past summer, we came across an amazing carpet weaver in Turkey (Türkiye as they spell it). We both fell in love with a particular silk carpet that we saw in the store and we decided to buy it. After a bit of price negotiating, we agreed on a firm and fair price for the carpet. The gentleman there asked how we would like to pay and I took him by surprise when I said, "Gold." The store owner asked for clarity and I said again, "I would like to pay in gold." The owner asked his business partner if he was willing to accept payment in gold and after a short conversation, they both agreed. While not an every day kind of purchase, the transaction was conducted using gold coin. The only time I would consider doing this type of transaction again is on larger priced product or if I had smaller denominations of gold (i.e. grams) for smaller purchases.

[SidS]

It'd be interesting to compare how face value Vs nickel spot price has fared from 1965 (1968 for Canada) to present.

I know in the UK the mint has been withdrawing all pre-2011 5p and 10p coins for over a decade now (assuming they're still doing the nickel reclaim).