Differences Between American and Canadian Coins Trivia Quiz | Hobbies

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. The American penny and the Canadian penny are the same in diameter and thickness. However, they are not made of the same materials. In addition, the materials have changed over the years. If a magnet was used on a mixture of American and Canadian pennies, which ones would stick to the magnet?

Answer: Canadian, after 2000

Only Canadian pennies after 2000 will stick to the magnet. However, not all of them will stick. In the early 2000s (decade), Canadian pennies were being switched to steel to reduce production costs, which made them magnetic. Canadian pennies from the early 2000s can be found both with and without steel. Pennies from the United States switched from copper to zinc in 1982, but they were not magnetic either before or after.

2. What happened to Canadian pennies in 2012 that did not happen to American pennies in that year?

Answer: They stopped being made permanently

2012 was the last year that Canadian pennies were made, due to people wanting to eliminate the penny from circulation. However, American pennies continued being made after that, even with many people in the United States also wanting the penny to be eliminated.

Canadian pennies were 12-sided (although subtly) from 1982 to 1996.

3. Which of these coins did NOT change at all for World War II?

Answer: Canadian penny

The American penny changed from copper to steel in 1943, while the American nickel changed from cupronickel to an alloy including silver from 1942 to 1945. The Canadian nickel changed design as well as composition: Copper/zinc and chrome-plated steel alloys were used during the war, and the design changed to a victory symbol from 1943 to 1945. These metal changes were required so that more metal could be used for the war.

However, even with these changes, Canadian pennies did not have any change for World War II, and silver coins (both American and Canadian) were not affected.

4. Which country removed silver from its dimes and quarters first: the United States or Canada?

Answer: The United States

The United States removed silver from its dimes and quarters in 1965. 1964 was the last year that dimes and quarters were silver. Canada waited until 1968 to remove silver from its coins. Canadian coins from 1968 were made both with and without silver.

While Canada removed silver from its half dollars in 1968 along with dimes and quarters, the United States kept half dollars partially silver until 1971.

5. In the 1970s, both the United States and Canada had large dollar coins. In 1987, the "loonie" was made, which was a smaller Canadian $1 coin that was gold-colored. It took several more years for the United States to make a $1 coin that was gold-colored. In what year was the first modern gold-colored American $1 coin made?

Answer: 2000

The American $1 coin, unlike the Canadian loonie, sees little use. $1 banknotes are used in the United States much more often than $1 coins. In 2000, an American $1 coin was created with a design of Sacagawea on one side and an eagle on the other. Then, in 2007, Presidential dollars started being made. Four designs were made each year, each with a different President.

From 1979 to 1981, the United States made dollar coins that were smaller than those from 1971 to 1978. However, they stopped being made due to being confused with quarters.

6. The Canadian loonie and the American Presidential dollars have some similarities and some differences. They are both worth $1 in their local currencies, and they are both gold-colored. Their diameters and thicknesses are also similar. However, there are also some differences. Which of these is NOT a difference?

Answer: The loonie is bimetallic, while the Presidential dollar is not

The loonie is not bimetallic, but the toonie, which is the common name for the Canadian $2 coin, is bimetallic. All of the other options are actual differences between the loonie and the Presidential dollar. Those differences also apply when comparing the loonie to the Sacagawea dollar, except that the Sacagawea dollar has no edge lettering.

7. Canada has a bimetallic $2 coin, commonly called a "toonie". There is no equivalent coin in the United States, unlike the lower-valued coins. The toonie's first year of production was 1996. What does the denomination say on the coin itself?

Answer: "2 DOLLARS"

The nickname "toonie" is a portmanteau of "two" (its value in dollars) and "loonie" (the $1 coin). It is bimetallic, with the words and the year on the outside silver-colored ring, while the inside gold-colored ring has pictures: Queen Elizabeth on one side and a polar bear on the other.

8. Canadian coins usually have the denomination as a number, like "25 cents". American coins usually have the denomination in words. Additionally, not all denominations are shown in cents. Which of these denominations is shown on its respective American coin?

Answer: "ONE DIME"

The American dime has "ONE DIME" shown, instead of "TEN CENTS" or "10 CENTS" as one might expect. The American penny and nickel have "ONE CENT" and "FIVE CENTS" on them, while the quarter has "QUARTER DOLLAR". The Presidential dollar, however, has "$1" shown, unlike other American coins.

Canada has simpler system, and it is easier for other countries to understand. Values less than a dollar are "1 CENT" up to "50 CENTS", the loonie just says "DOLLAR" (no 1 or ONE), and the toonie says "2 DOLLARS".

9. The United States switched from large cents to small cents in 1856, and silver 5� coins were changed to nickel 5� coins in 1866. Canada also made both of these changes. In which decade were these changes made in Canada?

Answer: 1920s

The change from large cents to small cents in Canada happened in 1920, while the change from silver 5� coins to nickel 5� coins happened in 1922 (with an increase in diameter and thickness).

Some of the coins during the transition are worth much more than normal. The Canadian 5� silver coin from 1921 is worth thousands of dollars. The American 1856 "Flying Eagle" small cent is also worth thousands of dollars. The high prices are caused by very few of those coins being made in those years.

10. The Canadian centennial was in 1967, while the American bicentennial was in 1976. Both of these caused changes in the designs of coins. Which coins were kept the same?

Answer: American penny, nickel, and dime

In 1967, all Canadian coins had a different design. However, all of the coins except for the penny and nickel were silver, and the silver centennial coins did not see much circulation. One year later, silver was removed from Canadian coins.

In 1976, the American quarter, half dollar, and dollar changed designs for the bicentennial, while the penny, nickel, and dime stayed the same. The bicentennial coins were made in both 1975 and 1976, but the bicentennial coins were all dated 1976. Only the bicentennial quarter is seen in circulation, because half dollars and dollar coins are rarely used (and the dollar coin was still huge in 1976).

Source: Author hotdogPi

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor WesleyCrusher before going online.
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Differences Between American and Canadian Coins Quiz

American and Canadian coins are similar, but there are several differences. Let's see if you can find them.

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