A whole new meaning for the term "play money"
April 15, 2012 6:20 PM   Subscribe

 
Selling for $29.95? Stupid baiting-and-switching Canadians.
posted by Etrigan at 6:24 PM on April 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


Thirty dollar dinosaur on a twenty-five cent coin?
Sounds like a license to print money.

*sunglasses*
posted by Winnemac at 6:26 PM on April 15, 2012 [12 favorites]


But does it show the bones of Queen Elizabeth on the obverse?

Trick question, they are already showing.
posted by furtive at 6:26 PM on April 15, 2012 [5 favorites]


That sentence gave me a parsing error. I was trying to figure out where in Canada was the 'dark quarter.'
posted by leotrotsky at 6:26 PM on April 15, 2012 [25 favorites]


Canada's national treasury has gone Franklin Mint.
The commerative medals and decorative plates are coming out next.
posted by Flood at 6:27 PM on April 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


I for one was really hoping the first link was a wikipedia link to "Canada". For some reason that would have pleased me.
posted by neuromodulator at 6:28 PM on April 15, 2012 [20 favorites]


I would like pennies to show the skull of Abraham Lincoln wearing a hat in the dark.
posted by michaelh at 6:29 PM on April 15, 2012 [6 favorites]


Someone remind me why they're dropping the penny again?
posted by radwolf76 at 6:30 PM on April 15, 2012


The President of Kabam-smash-a-town (the country composed entirely of stereotypical 6-year old boys) released as statement saying that his country plans to base their entire economy around Canada's new coin and, "I want it! I want it! I want it now!"
posted by sendai sleep master at 6:31 PM on April 15, 2012 [6 favorites]


Hey, guys! Take us seriously, guys! Seriously, guys!

Guys?
posted by bicyclefish at 6:33 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


So... here's my question.

You keep your change in your pocket. The lights go out. You reach in and pull out the change hoping to find a quarter. But when did the GITD elements of the coin get charged? Do you keep a light in your pocket? (Or are you just happy to see me?)
posted by hippybear at 6:34 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


While we're on the subject: is it feasible to put transparent glow-in-the-dark paint on coins and bills and then circulate them as a prank? Would the material wear off too quickly? Would it cause problems for currency handlers (human or machine?)
posted by michaelh at 6:35 PM on April 15, 2012


I want heat sensitive currency and I want it now.
posted by The Whelk at 6:43 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


That sentence gave me a parsing error. I was trying to figure out where in Canada was the 'dark quarter.'

I had the exact same problem on the first two passes. If glow-in-the-dark was hyphenated, it would have been clear.
posted by knave at 6:49 PM on April 15, 2012


Love it, The Whelk.

I don't know if what I read was accurate, but apparently it doesn't need to be "recharged" by light and is "permanently" luminescent.

Also, yeah, not glow-in-the-dark, although it does, so much as very lowly luminescent. Apparently.

Anyone know what material it is that's being used? Long lived alpha emitter and a phosphorescent(?)?
posted by porpoise at 6:49 PM on April 15, 2012


Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit mescaline.
posted by PareidoliaticBoy at 6:53 PM on April 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


/me checks theonion
/me checks snopes

Sigh.
posted by germdisco at 6:58 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


I didn't know that the Franklin Mint was in Canada.
posted by bpm140 at 6:58 PM on April 15, 2012


I would like pennies to show the skull of Abraham Lincoln wearing a hat in the dark.

We're getting rid of pennies this autumn.
posted by Fizz at 6:58 PM on April 15, 2012


Heh, it would be cool if they were tritium quarters. But the news articles mostly say that the glow-in-the-dark will not "wear out", which I take to mean that it's a normal charged-by-light luminescence but is physically durable.

I am also intrigued by the Canadian Mint's apparent plan to introduce an actual government-backed digital currency— is that a first?

I guess they have to do something with all the equipment and energy that used to go into making pennies.

Canada's national treasury has gone Franklin Mint

I kind of feel like the US's has, with the ever-changing set of collectable(?) state quarters, random-president dollars, and so on.
posted by hattifattener at 7:02 PM on April 15, 2012


It's too bad they're getting rid of the penny. I'd love to see the maple leaf's vein structure glow in the dark.
posted by Metro Gnome at 7:09 PM on April 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


Shut up and take my filthy, ugly American money!
posted by 0xdeadc0de at 7:16 PM on April 15, 2012


You keep your change in your pocket...
posted by hippybear
"Heh, it would be cool if they were tritium quarters."
posted by hattifattener


"Ow! My sperm!"
[puts quarter back in pocket]
"Funny, didn't hurt that time."
posted by 445supermag at 7:20 PM on April 15, 2012


Someone remind me why they're dropping the penny again?

'Cause they couldn't hold the Molson any longer?

Sooner or later you gotta break the seal.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 7:23 PM on April 15, 2012


But does it show the bones of Queen Elizabeth on the obverse?

According to David Icke, this means there's now a reptile on both sides.
posted by gimonca at 7:24 PM on April 15, 2012 [10 favorites]


I knew it had a dinosaur on it. I didn't know that it glows in the dark. O, Canada, what the hell is going on in this country?
posted by asnider at 7:51 PM on April 15, 2012


I was trying to figure out where in Canada was the 'dark quarter.'

That sounds.. pretty awesome.

We're getting rid of pennies this autumn.

No one likes a braggart. >=[
posted by curious nu at 7:59 PM on April 15, 2012


Just to round out the potential parsing errors, I initially assumed that this was about the creation of an entirely new glowing city district.
posted by lucidium at 8:03 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


re digital currency ... it's the "mint chip challenge" (sounds like ice cream!), and if you win you get cash plus a gold wafer!

Hmmm. Perhaps there should be a "mint chip ice cream sundae with gold wafer". Cost per scoop: 1 glowing quarter. We can call it the Ookpik.
posted by chapps at 8:06 PM on April 15, 2012


I'm holding out until they get Kate Beaton to do some designs for them.
posted by maryr at 8:34 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Ooooooh!!! A glow-in-the-dark quarter! A coin!

I actually read this and imagined there was a part of Canada called the "dark quarter," like in the NW Territories or something, and that they were introducing a glow. I actually thought this.
posted by drjimmy11 at 9:01 PM on April 15, 2012 [2 favorites]


Canada: brightening up the dark regions since 2012.
posted by Malor at 9:18 PM on April 15, 2012


Glow From The Dark Quarter is Ken Cosgrove's new book.
posted by The Whelk at 9:20 PM on April 15, 2012 [3 favorites]


Canada's Dark Quarter: David Foster Wallace or China Mieville?
posted by ook at 9:23 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


If they wanted to charge 30CAD for it, why didn't they just make it a 30CAD coin? It's not like it costs any more for them to print "Thirty Dollars" on it instead of "Twenty Five Cents" (or whatever they put on Canadian coins, I'm too lazy to go look)
posted by wierdo at 9:24 PM on April 15, 2012


s/print/stamp/

kingdom for an edit window?
posted by wierdo at 9:24 PM on April 15, 2012


I'm Canadian and I was waiting to find out that there was bioluminescence or an act of the Northern Lights going on in some dark quarter.

In with $30 quarters. Out with $11M pennies.
posted by Chaussette and the Pussy Cats at 9:50 PM on April 15, 2012 [1 favorite]


Radioactive money?
posted by blue_beetle at 9:51 PM on April 15, 2012


Anything that makes it easier for me to buy poutine at four in the morning can't possibly be good.
posted by louche mustachio at 10:15 PM on April 15, 2012 [4 favorites]


I was trying to figure out where in Canada was the 'dark quarter.'

my place, on saturday nights
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:23 PM on April 15, 2012


The dark quarter is north of 60. It's more like the dark 2/3s.
posted by converge at 10:40 PM on April 15, 2012


Awesome. *More* fucking coins in my pockets next time I go to B.C.
posted by rainperimeter at 11:09 PM on April 15, 2012


Someone remind me why they're dropping the penny again?
posted by radwolf76 at 6:30 PM on April 15 [+] [!]


This provides a pretty good overview of why the penny is doomed.
posted by steganographia at 12:09 AM on April 16, 2012


Yeah, but if they're going to charge 30CAD for this quarter, what's stopping them from just charging a premium for freshly minted pennies? Just saying.
posted by radwolf76 at 12:58 AM on April 16, 2012


People. Hello? This is fucking awesome. Hooray to the Canadian mint for being creative, modern, forward-thinking, and even fun.
posted by molecicco at 1:07 AM on April 16, 2012 [3 favorites]


So what kind of superpowers go with being irradiated by a Canadian quarter? Watch out, here comes Novelty-Monetary-Policy-Man!
posted by Cironian at 3:07 AM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


This is cool, but I'm not as impressed as I was when I first assumed that this tender was actually going to be circulated, as opposed to a Franklin Mint-ish "THESE PROOFS WILL BE STRUCK IN .9999 GOLD (clad) AND COLLECTORS HAVE FOUND THAT OUR LAST RELEASE WAS VERY PROFITABLE (but not really, at all) BUY YOURS TODAY AND PASS IT DOWN AS A FAMILY HEIRLOOM."

I mean, it is cool, but I'd love for it to be, well, all of their 25-cent pieces. That would be really neat.

I do sort of want one. a lot.
posted by exlotuseater at 3:08 AM on April 16, 2012


The dark quarter is north of 60. It's more like the dark 2/3s.

Except in the summer when it becomes the light quarter.
posted by fairmettle at 3:35 AM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


Don't care what you think I placed my order.
posted by govtdrone at 4:14 AM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Further proof that Canadians are afraid of the dark.
posted by sonika at 5:48 AM on April 16, 2012 [2 favorites]


I was telling my daughter about this at breakfast (shes almost 9) and she was so stoked about it. I think I found her birthday present.
posted by ShawnString at 6:29 AM on April 16, 2012


They make them glow-in-the-dark by dipping them in Alberta tailings ponds.
posted by Capt. Renault at 6:36 AM on April 16, 2012


Someone remind me why they're dropping the penny again?


We should be dropping it as well. Actually, we should be dropping anything smaller than a quarter. The cent model is hopelessly obsolete - you can't even buy penny candy for a dime these days.

Ideally, I'd like to see .25, .50, $1 and $2 coins replace the current useless lumps of metal weighing down my change jar. If I never see another price ending in .99, that alone is worth the hassle of the switch.
posted by Slap*Happy at 7:03 AM on April 16, 2012


Whatevs... this coin is ten bucks cheaper and has working headlights.
posted by SharkParty at 7:14 AM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


You laugh, but apparently in Britain we had lenticular stamps...

I really want one of these coins
posted by mippy at 7:40 AM on April 16, 2012


in the interest of science I will smash a dark quarter and a light quarter in my table top accelerator.

(I really want one of these)
posted by bleary at 8:12 AM on April 16, 2012


I will not rest until we have Magic Eye paper currency. Here's the fun part: the denomination amount will be part of the hidden image. Shopping will be like Russian Roulette!
posted by KingEdRa at 8:30 AM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


If they wanted to charge 30CAD for it, why didn't they just make it a 30CAD coin? It's not like it costs any more for them to print "Thirty Dollars" on it instead of "Twenty Five Cents" (or whatever they put on Canadian coins, I'm too lazy to go look)

Because this way they make $29.75 off of each coin.
posted by Mitheral at 8:50 AM on April 16, 2012


hattifattener: "Heh, it would be cool if they were tritium quarters."

ObSF: The Roentgen Standard.

I think I've linked that a number of times before; you'd be surprised how often it seems relevant.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:03 AM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


This idea is 25% loonie.
posted by argonauta at 1:33 PM on April 16, 2012 [1 favorite]


Canada keeps coming up with the coolest stuff
posted by freakazoid at 9:19 PM on April 16, 2012


thanks to a wonderful answer to an AskMefi question about kids science kits, I now know I can make my own bioluminescent money... or anything!
posted by chapps at 10:59 PM on April 16, 2012


For those of you saying "Ugh, Franklin Mint" etc - it's not like this is a new thing. It's a gimmick, sure. But the Canadian mint has sold collector's coins for years and years and years. For that matter, so does the US Mint.

Actually, that reminds me - need to buy the coin set for this year to give to my daughter. It's hokey, but it's a fun little family tradition. Everybody gets a coin set from the year they were born.
posted by antifuse at 7:05 AM on May 14, 2012


« Older Just Keep Dancing!   |   Human chess Newer »


This thread has been archived and is closed to new comments