Canada released the world’s first coloured coin last week and there has been an uproar.
For future visitors to Canada we have the following coinage: pennies, nickels, quarters, fifty cents pieces, loonies and toonies.
10 million poppy quarters were released on the 21st to Tim Horton’s and The Royal Canadian Legion and the coin will be available in banks in about 3 weeks.
Like the toonie, production hasn’t gone flawlessly. (the center in the two dollar coin used to pop out. Released in 1996 the bimetallic coin has an outer rim of pure nickel with the inner core of 92% copper, 6% aluminum, and 2% nickel.)
The red and black can be scrapped off the new quarter. Some war veterans and others are upset about that.
What irritated me, many of my friends and my family was a memo from Tim Horton’s head office in Toronto Ontario to the franchises not to give out the coin unless a purchase was made.
Farrell Henzell is a Ste. Anne resident who rushed out to a Tim Hortons outlet in Steinbach (Manitoba- ed) to get the coin on Friday. He was disappointed when he was told he needed to buy something in order to get it.
“I didn’t think that was right,” Henzell said. “They shouldn’t be making a profit off the coin, not when they’re the only place I can get it.”
Taylor said it was never intended that Tim Hortons would profit from being the coin’s main distributor.
He adds that because of the chain’s unique position, it must make it available to everyone.
He said forcing Canadians to buy something before getting the coin isn’t in line with “the spirit of what we are trying to do.”
Tim Hortons was chosen to be the coin’s distributor because it has a national presence with thousands of outlets across the country.
The Royal Canadian Mint’s release presentation is fitting, the video beautifully done, and worth the look to understand what the fuss is about.
Click on A Tribute to Canada’s Veterans.
The Royal Mint stepped in this weekend and told Tim Horton’s no, the policy was not acceptable. A quarter for a quarter, no purchase necessary. Horton’s is a good company and that was a slip up they didn’t need to make. Most of us understand that being the first releaser for this coin is a privilege. Veterans have fought the government for years to have the poppy represented properly. Tim Horton’s doesn’t need to put commerce first.
The mint is working on the colour problem.
The commercial we Canadians are seeing - bringing remembrance, the coin and Tim Horton’s is here.
Published 4 years ago
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Sadly our young people are not getting the message of the sacrifices made during both World Wars. Canada sacrifices a large number of young men for such a small country.
Shame on Tim Horton’s for not honouring the spirit in which the Royal Canadian Mint intended the coin to be distributed. I had the opportunity to explain to one teenager why the coin was red in the center, they didn’t have a clue.
I think Tim Hortons has fallen short of the honour given to them to distribute this coin and even worse, failed to honour our veterns by not making it clear why they had the coin in the first place.
How would one go about getting some of these in the States — especially when I’m not close to the border? Is there someone I can write to?
I’m trying to build a “North American Commemorative Coin” collection — the 50 state quarters, the Lewis and Clark nickles, and I’d love to get some of the Canadian commemoratives, too.
On a mission, I decided to find out why it was so hard to get one of the new quarters. I went through the drive-through last night and was refused one. So I approached the manager today, armed with the new information you posted and we had a great discussion. They had run out of quarters and yes, some of their younger staff did not fully understand the significance of what this coin represents. He explained his position, I listened politely and we parted amicably. Tim Horton’s is a good corporate citizen. They just dropped the ball this time.
I moved on to the next Tim Horton’s (less than a mile away) and started again. I was told by a chirpy young lady I had to buy coffee or something. I smiled sweetly and set her straight. This time I walked out with two quarters.
I will be in Washington DC this week. It is my plan to give some of these quarters to the marine veterans who will be monitoring the marine marathon. While Canada sacrificed 117,000 men in WW1 (a large number for a small country), it is irrelevant - war is the same for any soldier.
I think Tim Horton’s will be changing their position about the quarter distribution soon. This has outraged more than a few older people. Some of the young ones are on board too.
Just found the link to the mint’s catalog, and I’m ordering a few. I’d like to see the US do something similar to this.
And I always thought it was spelled twonie.
I am appalled with the decision to involve Tim Horton’s in the distribution of the Poppy Coin. Governments have to stay away from favouring certain businesses over other businesses. If I owned a Country Style Donut franchise, I’d be extremely ticked off with this decision. All legitimate businesses in this country pay taxes and should all be dealt with equally. If they wanted them to get distributed fast, they should have sent them to the banks with instructions to include the rolls of quarters in the ‘coin orders’ that all small businesses get from the banks to use in their tills. I guarantee the coins would be on the streets in a week in an unbiased fashion. Whoever made this decision must have been drinking too much coffee!