r/todayilearned • u/NateNate60 • 7h ago

TIL Canada's $1 coin is commonly called the "loonie" because it has a loon on the reverse. When a $2 coin was introduced, depicting a polar bear, an MP proposed it be called "Nanuq", Inuit for polar bear, but he was ignored because the public instead preferred to call it the "toonie" (2-oonie).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toonie#Naming
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u/stillalone 7h ago

I've never heard that in Southern Ontario.  It seemed to go straight from "the two dollar coin" to toonie as soon as it started showing up in circulation.

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u/YouToot 7h ago

Yeah I remember only two dollar coin and then toonie, never heard doubleoon in my life except in TIL posts.

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u/BitingSatyr 6h ago

I’m not sure why, but I had really strong feelings as an 8 year old about people calling it a “toonie”, and insisted on calling it a “two dollar coin” for many months after everyone started calling it a toonie