Yesterday a friend showed me two coins that jammed up a vending machine where he worked and asked me if I thought they were fakes or what. Obviously they were Canadian since they both said Canada on them. They were a Dime and a Quarter and both appeared as if they were proofs due to the shine. Quarter was 2003 and Dime was 2004. First Canadian Coins I've seen since they were supposed to have been changed to Steel. I produce a magnet and both jumped to the magnet. I've heard that Canada has gone to Steel but assumed they would be using a high grade Stainless Steel that is non magnetic but obviously I'm wrong there. They don't appear to be coated so must be of a Stainless type that will not rust, maybe. He gave them to me for nothing. If our Mint starts producing such coins there will be a lot of machines jammed up it appears.
That's how I first realized we switched from zinc cents to steel cents, when the magnets on my sunglasses picked up some new cents I had laid out on the counter. If I remember correctly, we stuck with copper cents for a few years longer then you folks in the US, but we only did the zinc thing for a year or two before switching to steel.
All Canadian coins are quite shinny when first minted so yours arnt proofs. They are made of regular steel that is plated with nickel.
Thanks but I did realize that they were not proofs. Didin't know they were Nickel plasted though. I wonder if the steel they use will rust when the Nickel wears off or did they use a sort of Stainless Steel. It is odd they they bothered to plate them since Stainless Steel is a mixture that includes Nickel.
