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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Clinker, post: 185734, member: 6229&quot;]First...some background information on the original Canadian <i>Loonie </i>Dollar Coin:</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The dollar has a loon on the reverse and was issued on June 30,1987 to replace the Canadian paper $1.00 note. The loon coin is composed of Aureate (91.50% nickel, 7.48% copper and 1.02% tin).</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>click for image: <a href="http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img8/35-157&amp;desc=Canada%20km157%201%20Dollar%20(1987-1989)%20Loon" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img8/35-157&amp;desc=Canada%20km157%201%20Dollar%20(1987-1989)%20Loon" rel="nofollow">http://worldcoingallery.com/countries/coin.php?image=img8/35-157&amp;desc=Canada%20km157%201%20Dollar%20(1987-1989)%20Loon</a></p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>You probably already know this, but do you know</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>the planned dollar coin for 1987 was to have the old &quot;voyager&quot; reverse?</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The Royal Candain Mint decided to have the new 1987 dollar coin dies made in Ottawa and shipped to their facilities in Winnipeg via a courier service named Canada Post.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p>The normal (for security reasons) method of transporting coin dies was to use a high-security company (like Brinks) and split-ship the obverse dies and reverse dies.</p><p>On November 3, 1986 the Ottawa facilities handed over both dies (in one package) without asking the person, representing himself as an employee of Canada Post, for identification. The dies never made it to Winnipeg.</p><p>An investigation by the Royal Mounted Police led them to believe the dies were merely lost in transit, but some mint employees didn&#039;t concur with that assertation and, in order to prevent thieves from minting their own coinage, decided to have new reverse dies made. They selected a loon design rendered by Robert-Ralph Carmichael. The mint director quickly gained approval from the government for the change of design on the reverse.</p><p>Dies were made and the &quot;<i>Loonie</i>&quot; dollars were released to the public right on the previously scheduled date (June 30, 1987).</p><p>In the following Olympic years <i>Loonies</i> were used to create an aura of luck for the Canadian teams. When the <i>Loonies </i>were present, the teams won, when not present, the teams lost. They became known as <i>Lucky Loonies</i>.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><b>PS1</b>. Before the <i>Loonies</i> became good luck symbols because of their use in the 1998 Olympics, let me inform you of a not-so-well-known fact. The character Michael Eddington of Star Trek&#039;s <b>Deep Space Nine</b>, in an episode called &quot;Blaze of Glory&quot; , (which aired May 12, 1997) had a family heirloom from the 22nd century which he referred to as his, &quot;Canadian Lucky Loonie.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><b>PS2</b>. The <i>Loonie</i> has become such an intergrel symbol of Canadian currency that newspaper articles discuss the rate at which the <i>Loonie </i>is trading against the United States dollar. It is so widely recognized, that, in 2006 the Royal Csanadian Mint secured the rights to the name &quot;<i>Loonie</i>.&quot;</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><b>PS3.</b> The Canadian town of Echo Bay, Ontario, home of the Loon reverse designer Robert-Ralph Carmichael honored him and his design by erecting an enormous <i>Loonie </i>near the highway.</p><p>&nbsp;</p><p><font face="Times New Roman">Clinker</font></p><p><font face="Times New Roman"></font>[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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