Comments on: Cold, hard spy devices. Or not.

Cold, hard spy devices. Or not.

Zinger — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:41:23 -0800

Updatefilter: Apparently a poppy was the cause of espionage accusations. As reported here on the blue, some US contractors were apparently freaked out by a novel Canadian coin which featured a red poppy. The coin was issued by the Royal Canadian Mint, an organization that makes Canadian cash as well as currencies for other countries. The Mint, which is definitely worth a tour if you're in Ottawa, won an award for the coin. The coin was issued to honour Canadian war dead; the poppy is the symbol of the Royal Canadian Legion.

By: jkaczor

jkaczor — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:48:40 -0800

Nice nice - but you missed out on our latest coin... It's a biggie - 100kg, $1,000,000.00

By: LunaticFringe

LunaticFringe — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:49:56 -0800

We also have a quarter with the pink breast cancer ribbon. Just to warn you.

By: mephron

mephron — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:58:11 -0800

UpdateFilter or StupidParanoiaFilter? YOU make the call!

By: DU

DU — Mon, 07 May 2007 05:59:05 -0800

I'm sure the 4 month lag in the US determining what coins Canada mints is in no way indicative of intelligence gathering or communication problems.

By: mephron

mephron — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:01:49 -0800

Just to clarify: I am not accusing Zinger of being Stupid or Paranoid. The idiots who set this off, though, without checking the money of the country they were visiting, though... What, did they drink too much maple liqueur or something? That entire kerfuffle is pushing the brain damaged people envelope.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:18:18 -0800

Is there any where to see a high-resolution shot of this so-called "nano-technology"?

By: mendel

mendel — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:19:09 -0800

This was resolved back in January, which is why the US retraction is linked at the bottom of the January metafilter post you linked to.

By: bondcliff

bondcliff — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:25:53 -0800

Looks like someone at the mint was a fan of 80s alternative band The Alarm.

By: BozoBurgerBonanza

BozoBurgerBonanza — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:25:58 -0800

What's the reaction to a coin about boobs?

By: zeoslap

zeoslap — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:32:23 -0800

Seems odd that the Defence Security Service would issue an espionage warning without taking a look at the coins first.

By: caddis

caddis — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:33:56 -0800

It's witches all over again.

By: Flashman

Flashman — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:46:47 -0800

It bothers me that 'US Military Contactors' are travelling within Canada to begin with. Who knows what other thuggish havoc they can wreak up here.

By: jmccw

jmccw — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:49:38 -0800

looked like nano-technology"?? hilarious.

By: jouke

jouke — Mon, 07 May 2007 06:58:19 -0800

This kind of paranoia, to me, is indicative of the level of covert operations that the US is engaging in at the moment. Sounds like the cold war is back.

By: A189Nut

A189Nut — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:02:55 -0800

Isn't it indicative of a nation with little knowledge of the world ourside its borders, even the next nearest? I mean, not to know of poppies as a symbol of remembrance?

By: jouke

jouke — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:09:05 -0800

Maybe you're right.

By: jouke

jouke — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:15:11 -0800

btw I had never seen coins like this, with enamel centers. But I like them just as much as the enamel small badges of when I was a kid.

By: drezdn

drezdn — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:23:07 -0800

A189Nut: Doesn't it just show a lack of the world in general? Poppies have been used in the US to represent remembrance. My mom used to get one each memorial day.

By: adamgreenfield

adamgreenfield — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:42:44 -0800

Sighing so much it makes my head hurt. drezdn is exactly right. Also, "nano-technology"??

By: TedW

TedW — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:45:46 -0800

Poppies have been used in the US to represent remembrance. My mom used to get one each memorial day In Flanders fields the poppies blow...

By: Flashman

Flashman — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:49:33 -0800

Amongst the mosses, lo and lo

By: delmoi

delmoi — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:51:46 -0800

Well, it does look pretty unusual for a coin, I especially under blacklight.

By: pracowity

pracowity — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:55:25 -0800

The contractors didn't show the coins to a cashier or two and ask whether they'd seen coins like that before? Take them to a bank? Ask a Canadian friend? Complete fools. With guns, no doubt. Wandering around feeling important in someone else's country.

So! You won't take warning, eh? All the worse for you, then. I'll take care of you now instead of later! Hah! When I gain those ruby slippers, my power will be the greatest in Oz! And now, my beauties! Something with poison in it, I think. With poison in it, but attractive to the eye -- and soothing to the smell! (laughs) Poppies! Poppies! Poppies!

By: Flashman

Flashman — Mon, 07 May 2007 07:58:49 -0800

They probably assumed that the cashiers would be in on it too.

By: wreckingball

wreckingball — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:16:29 -0800

if people really meant to hide "nanotechnology" in a coin, wouldn't they, you know, make an effort to hide it? perhaps by making it a color other than bright red?

By: GuyZero

GuyZero — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:28:33 -0800

I had never seen coins like this, with enamel centers It's not enamel. It's the same metal as always, textured and then printed on with a special ink. The poppies can wear off over time.

By: niles

niles — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:36:51 -0800

The coin, via

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Mon, 07 May 2007 08:44:25 -0800

It's official, then - my government is insane. You other countries should probably keep that in mind.

By: Skygazer

Skygazer — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:14:52 -0800

Ridiculous. Is there anyway to get one of these lovely coins in the U.S of A without being put on a no fly list?

By: bitter-girl.com

bitter-girl.com — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:36:03 -0800

Sweet fecking jeebus. People who ask me why I didn't go into the Foreign Service after all will be immediately directed to this story in future... my government is full of morons, and they hire even stupider morons.

By: quarter waters and a bag of chips

quarter waters and a bag of chips — Mon, 07 May 2007 09:48:03 -0800

how the fuck can anyone without a microscope say "this looks like nano-technology!" with a straight face? are we sending retards up to canada to do contract work?

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:14:48 -0800

"U.S. Dept. of Defence" and "intelligence" are oxymorons, as the run up to the Iraq war so richly illustrates.

By: wsg

wsg — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:32:26 -0800

"defense," rather...

By: voltairemodern

voltairemodern — Mon, 07 May 2007 10:36:12 -0800

It's official, then - my government is insane. You other countries should probably keep that in mind. Absolutely. This crossed the goddamn line.

By: sporb

sporb — Mon, 07 May 2007 12:35:12 -0800

BTW, those coins are made here at the Royal Canadian Mint production facility in Winnipeg, not in Ottawa...

By: blacklite

blacklite — Mon, 07 May 2007 14:42:00 -0800

"U.S. Dept. of Defence" and "intelligence" are oxymorons, as the run up to the Iraq war so richly illustrates. "defense," rather... I spotted a news story here in the US (I'm Canadian) where they called it the "Labor Party". So as far as I'm concered, it's the Department of Defence from here on out.

By: rdone

rdone — Mon, 07 May 2007 15:46:04 -0800

Why, that dang coin is plainly marked as a "Remember Souvenir" ! What self-respecting military contractor wouldn't recognize that as the semiotic for sinister Oriental nano-technology? I can only hope that the paranoiac shiteheads responsible for identifying a war memorial quarter as security threat--surely the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern of North American counterespionage--will be the objects of endless ridicule by their peers and contemporaries. It is deeply disturbing that highly-paid adults in the service of the U.S. government took their report at face value.

By: CKmtl

CKmtl — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:22:59 -0800

We also have a quarter with the pink breast cancer ribbon. Just to warn you. And those bumps on the new bills aren't fancy embedded spy gadgets either, they're just pseudo-Braille.

By: zog

zog — Mon, 07 May 2007 16:32:26 -0800

..bought to you by the same people who found those WMD in Iraq.. feel any safer now?

By: gesamtkunstwerk

gesamtkunstwerk — Mon, 07 May 2007 17:45:29 -0800

Oh, yeah, and can you prove that CSIS isn't using coins for spying? People hold onto coins for minutes, hours, days and even weeks! Why, bugging a coin could be brilliant... or completely and totally worthless! As much as the paranoia is so typically American, I can't help by think the stupidity of bugging a coin with ultra expensive technology would be so CSIS. This is the spy agency that went to great lengths to buy the same model of car with non-sequential vehicle identification numbers, but ended up getting sequential license plates for the whole fleet.

By: quonsar

quonsar — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:05:56 -0800

Also, "nano-technology"?? its inherency is ubiquitous.

By: rob511

rob511 — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:08:03 -0800

"54°40' or fi — oooh, pretty!"

By: zamboni

zamboni — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:11:29 -0800

The link that niles posted reveals that these coins were (initially) only available at Tim Horton's. Your donut shop is conspiring against you!

By: randomstriker

randomstriker — Mon, 07 May 2007 19:28:39 -0800

Faux News reports that the poppy is "Canada's flower of remembrance".

By: BozoBurgerBonanza

BozoBurgerBonanza — Tue, 08 May 2007 04:45:52 -0800

From the report above: An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower... The odd-looking — but harmless — "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors... The unorthodox quarter.... Allright, we get it, we got weird coins up here, and they are completly harmless...except for the wild twoonie.

By: Kirth Gerson

Kirth Gerson — Tue, 08 May 2007 07:25:34 -0800

That's an odd-looking, unorthodox name you've got there. We've put in a report on it.