Canadian Coinage

Living in the state which is the last line of defence against rampaging Canadians carries responsibility. We are responsible for killing of their trees and natural resources with acid rain; they are responsible for slipping their worthless change into our cash registers. That is until now.

For years, I have remained ever vigilant of being slipped Canadian Coins in my change. Their 25 cent piece is almost indistinguishable in size from the US quarter. For the first few years I was here in Minnesota, I seemed to be a target for their worthless coinage. It would get slipped into my change, usually here at the work cafeteria. It would not have bothered me so much except I could not do the reverse and slip it into my payments. The ladies working the registers were much more attuned to our attempts to slip back the worthless change; I was a one-way magnet for Canadian Coins. I started making a collection here at work; in the event I made a trip across the border, I would be amply covered for newspapers, parking meters and donations to the homeless.

The best way to prevent this was vigilance. I had to be on guard at all times for their worthless bits of change. I took it as a personal challenge that they would try to slip in some crappy coins, and I considered it a major personal failure if I let one slip through. My persistence paid off. My desk remains Canadian Coin free.

Today, while getting lunch at the cafeteria, I caught one of the less sociable cashiers try to pull a fast one on me. I promptly pointed out the foreign 25 cent piece and asked for the domestic variety. She looked at me over her wire rim glasses, with a health dose of contempt, replacing the quarter with a genuine, made in the USA quarter. She dropped the foreign interloper back in the USA quarter slot and muttered under her breath, "you just gave away money."

And she was right.

The US dollar has gotten so weak, that it has been surpassed by the Loon. Right now, they are at about parity, but on any given day, this could fluctuate and my vigilance could put me on the loosing end of a currency deal. This leaves me in a bit of a quandary - do I stick with my pro-USA financial patriotism, or do I let my vigilance drop in order to cash in as currency trader.

Or currency traitor!

It is a silly question, really. Of course I will remain loyal to the US Greenback. I would rather see the Statue of Liberty wearing a Mounties uniform before I begin preferring cross-border change over our beloved quarter.

Ever vigilant.