Canadian quarters in penny press machines?

[damo]

I can see why the OP would ask. If you can't use the Canadian coins as tender and have some with you, you may as well have them pressed if they will work. Just a good way to use up coins that you wouldn't be able to use to buy anything.

 

[Eddygirl]

I can see why the OP would ask. If you can't use the Canadian coins as tender and have some with you, you may as well have them pressed if they will work. Just a good way to use up coins that you wouldn't be able to use to buy anything.

I apologize. I took it to mean using the quarters to make a pressed penny. I think if one is wanting to make a pressed quarter that should not be an issue, however should use US currency for the payment.

I did not mean to push a hot button.... I just meant to share an odd bit of trivia about why you can not get/make a pressed Canadian penny in a "penny squisher" in Canada. Will be redundant soon anyhow as our penny is going the way of the dodo bird into extinction! Lol

 

[bcla]

I can see why the OP would ask. If you can't use the Canadian coins as tender and have some with you, you may as well have them pressed if they will work. Just a good way to use up coins that you wouldn't be able to use to buy anything.

The original question wasn't about pressing Canadian coins, but rather using them in place of US currency to spend as one would a US quarter. I understand that the exchange rate is about 1:1 these days, but I'm guessing they don't want to deal with a few coins and it may be illegal to do so unless the vendor authorizes the use.

I do remember back when many Canadian vending machines would accept US coins by design, but that was when the exchange rate was about 1.30:1 CAD to USD. Then - taking US currency was advantageous.

OK - I found the law. 18 USC Sec. 491. Versions of this law were passed because some companies were manufacturing "slugs" as novelties. They claimed that they were novelties "not for use in coin-operated devices", but everyone knew what they were for. Part (b) deals with manufacturing of slugs and/or sale of anything specifically meant to trick a coin-op machine into accepting it as it would legal US currency. The law is broad enough to apply to the use of foreign currency of similar size/weight to US coins that might fool a coin-operated machine into accepting such currency.

http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C25.txt

§ 491. Tokens or paper used as money

(a) Whoever, being 18 years of age or over, not lawfully
authorized, makes, issues, or passes any coin, card, token, or
device in metal, or its compounds, intended to be used as money, or
whoever, being 18 years of age or over, with intent to defraud,
makes, utters, inserts, or uses any card, token, slug, disk,
device, paper, or other thing similar in size and shape to any of
the lawful coins or other currency of the United States or any coin
or other currency not legal tender in the United States, to procure
anything of value, or the use or enjoyment of any property or
service from any automatic merchandise vending machine, postage-
stamp machine, turnstile, fare box, coinbox telephone, parking
meter or other lawful receptacle, depository, or contrivance
designed to receive or to be operated by lawful coins or other
currency of the United States, shall be fined under this title, or
imprisoned not more than one year, or both.

Not sure what happens if a minor does this, but I'd think the law would still apply to the adult if an adult asked a child to do this.

 

[tbgmom]

Thanks everyone. I didn't even consider that Canadian coins may not be legal tender in the US as American coins are legal tender in Canada. I've never been in a store that even checked to make sure all the coins are Canadian. I will be buying our US quarters to use in the machines when we get south of the border!

 

[bcla]

I apologize. I took it to mean using the quarters to make a pressed penny. I think if one is wanting to make a pressed quarter that should not be an issue, however should use US currency for the payment.

I did not mean to push a hot button.... I just meant to share an odd bit of trivia about why you can not get/make a pressed Canadian penny in a "penny squisher" in Canada. Will be redundant soon anyhow as our penny is going the way of the dodo bird into extinction! Lol

I think your original thought was correct. I read that the OP was asking if Canadian quarters could be used in place of US quarters as spending money and not the raw material (which is a penny). I didn't ascribe any fraudulent intent, as the current exchange rate hovers around even. However, if I were a machine operator, I wouldn't want to handle it. What would you really do with it. When Disneyland accepts foreign currency, they always do so at rates with a premium similar to an airport currency exchange. In my experience, most foreign currency exchanges have minimum denominations that they'll accept. Once I was going from Australia to New Zealand and wanted to get rid of all the AUD I had. At a foreign exchange window at the airport, they wouldn't take any small change, but would take any coin or bill of at least a dollar.

 

[Susie63]

Once upon a time some American retailers would take Canadian money at par when the Canadian dollar was worth a lot less. I wonder if that still happens.
It was usually in tourist destinations...so maybe DL did too?

 

[bcla]

If they are worth the same, what is the difference? It isn't like it is monopoly money or something. Lots of places where I live in Canada will accept US money. It isn't an issue.

Ever tried dealing with foreign currency? Some foreign exchange services won't even accept coins, and it's just another hassle even if a seller can find someone. If they do, they certainly don't want to accept it 1:1. They always want to sell at a premium; that's what happens with retail foreign exchange. If the published exchange rate is CAD:USD 1:1, they'll be buying CAD for maybe 1.05:1.

As it stands, it's illegal to pass off anything as a US coin with the intent to procure something from a coin-op machine, with criminal fines and imprisonment up to a year. I don't think it happens much, but I just wanted to put it out there that it is illegal.

 

[sweethannah]

I think your original thought was correct. I read that the OP was asking if Canadian quarters could be used in place of US quarters as spending money and not the raw material (which is a penny). I didn't ascribe any fraudulent intent, as the current exchange rate hovers around even. However, if I were a machine operator, I wouldn't want to handle it. What would you really do with it. When Disneyland accepts foreign currency, they always do so at rates with a premium similar to an airport currency exchange. In my experience, most foreign currency exchanges have minimum denominations that they'll accept. Once I was going from Australia to New Zealand and wanted to get rid of all the AUD I had. At a foreign exchange window at the airport, they wouldn't take any small change, but would take any coin or bill of at least a dollar.

I would assume like any business they will roll any extra coin they don't use and take it to the bank in rolls of $10. The bank is not going to mind about the odd CDN quarter in with the coins as the value is the same. I work in a bank and see US coins and Canadian coins mixed together all the time. I'm surprised at how bad you think using a CDN quarter in the machine is. I'd also like to point out that many vending machines aren't calibrated to accept canadian coins due to difference in weight or materials. I would imagine that the closer the location to the border and the more touristy areas in the US are quite used to accepting Canadian coins without much thought.

 

[bcla]

I would assume like any business they will roll any extra coin they don't use and take it to the bank in rolls of $10. The bank is not going to mind about the odd CDN quarter in with the coins as the value is the same. I work in a bank and see US coins and Canadian coins mixed together all the time. I'm surprised at how bad you think using a CDN quarter in the machine is. I'd also like to point out that many vending machines aren't calibrated to accept canadian coins due to difference in weight or materials. I would imagine that the closer the location to the border and the more touristy areas in the US are quite used to accepting Canadian coins without much thought.

I've gotten the occasional Canadian coin in change. Frankly I don't like it because I'd feel bad about trying to pass it off as a US coin and most vending machines I run into are calibrated to tell the difference.

I certainly remember when the USD was worth more than the CAD. Back then, having a Canadian vending machine accept US coins at 1:1 made sense. Collect a few hundred dollars worth and you could cover the cost of sorting them with the advantageous exchange rate. The other way around I doubt back then. Would you accept 75 Canadian cents, which at the time might have been worth 60 US cents? Now accepting 75 US cents for a purchase made sense when it was worth about one Canadian dollar.

 

[DisSarahK]

We get Canadian pennies in our change on a fairly regular basis. It doesn't really phase me.

I do know that it is illegal in Canada to use a Canadian penny in a penny machine. I thought it was because you cannot deface the Queen's image.

I am not sure if the Disney machine's accept Canadian money as we have never tried to use anything except American money. We save the Canadian money for when we visit Canada.

 

[Eddygirl]

I've gotten the occasional Canadian coin in change. Frankly I don't like it because I'd feel bad about trying to pass it off as a US coin and most vending machines I run into are calibrated to tell the difference.

I certainly remember when the USD was worth more than the CAD. Back then, having a Canadian vending machine accept US coins at 1:1 made sense. Collect a few hundred dollars worth and you could cover the cost of sorting them with the advantageous exchange rate. The other way around I doubt back then. Would you accept 75 Canadian cents, which at the time might have been worth 60 US cents? Now accepting 75 US cents for a purchase made sense when it was worth about one Canadian dollar.

Actually, this is not the case for US coin in Canada. It was never exchanged at current rates, rather at face value. I grew up in a city very close to the US border. My Mom worked in a bank and people would sometimes bring rolls of US quarters wanting to exchange them at current rates. Coin was only exchanged at face value. No one goes to a Canadian bank to buy US currency and wants it in rolls of coin..... Unless like us we want it for the penny squishes at DL!! Lol!!!!

Any European country I visited pre-Euro would not exchange coin, so when leaving a country we would use all our coin to buy food etc at the train stations. And a lot of European currency had high value.... Something we were not used to do we could accumulate a pocket full of money! This was long before we got the Loonie ($1 coin) and the Twoonie ($2 coin).

 

[keltiesmom]

I would assume like any business they will roll any extra coin they don't use and take it to the bank in rolls of $10. The bank is not going to mind about the odd CDN quarter in with the coins as the value is the same. I work in a bank and see US coins and Canadian coins mixed together all the time. I'm surprised at how bad you think using a CDN quarter in the machine is. I'd also like to point out that many vending machines aren't calibrated to accept canadian coins due to difference in weight or materials. I would imagine that the closer the location to the border and the more touristy areas in the US are quite used to accepting Canadian coins without much thought.

The last time I was at DL I was quite rudely told that's not accepted here and flicked back across the counter when I dumped out my coin purse to pay, I didn't realize there was Canadian in my coins since I had separate coin purses. I don't think I've ever had an American willing to accept Canadian.

 

[keltiesmom]

I've gotten the occasional Canadian coin in change. Frankly I don't like it because I'd feel bad about trying to pass it off as a US coin and most vending machines I run into are calibrated to tell the difference.

I certainly remember when the USD was worth more than the CAD. Back then, having a Canadian vending machine accept US coins at 1:1 made sense. Collect a few hundred dollars worth and you could cover the cost of sorting them with the advantageous exchange rate. The other way around I doubt back then. Would you accept 75 Canadian cents, which at the time might have been worth 60 US cents? Now accepting 75 US cents for a purchase made sense when it was worth about one Canadian dollar.

We still take US coins as payment at par, I don't think the banks sort them out, they just roll them up with Canadian and if your lucky you get a roll with a bunch of American

 

[bcla]

We still take US coins as payment at par, I don't think the banks sort them out, they just roll them up with Canadian and if your lucky you get a roll with a bunch of American

Is it really all that great these days when the USD is about par with the CAD? I checked the exchange rates today, and the price fluctuated between either being slightly more valuable at various times during the day. Back when I visited, the USD was always more.

 

[bcla]

Actually, this is not the case for US coin in Canada. It was never exchanged at current rates, rather at face value. I grew up in a city very close to the US border. My Mom worked in a bank and people would sometimes bring rolls of US quarters wanting to exchange them at current rates. Coin was only exchanged at face value. No one goes to a Canadian bank to buy US currency and wants it in rolls of coin..... Unless like us we want it for the penny squishes at DL!! Lol!!!!

I'm guessing that retail customers are treated differently than large merchant accounts. If anyone would get coins exchanged at an advantageous rate, it would be a large vending machine company that can bring in thousands of dollars at a time. Whoever brought in the change from the BC Ferries vending machines probably brought in thousands at a time along with paper money. Large exchangers also get market rates (minus a flat fee) rather than the retail exchange rates.

 

[sweethannah]

I'm guessing that retail customers are treated differently than large merchant accounts. If anyone would get coins exchanged at an advantageous rate, it would be a large vending machine company that can bring in thousands of dollars at a time. Whoever brought in the change from the BC Ferries vending machines probably brought in thousands at a time along with paper money. Large exchangers also get market rates (minus a flat fee) rather than the retail exchange rates.

It would have to be thousands of dollars to get an advantageous rate. Preferential rates start at 10,000 or more in dollars which is a lot of quarters. We don't have any way of sending back an order of US coins which is why we take it at par. Excess quarters or any coin for that matter is shipped back to the Bank of Canada... we don't ship US coin to the States. We only can ship and/or order US paper money. Rarely we get US dollar coins and we treat this like par as well which is actually a much better deal as to sell back a US dollar at the moment would cost approx 96-98cents depending on the rate. We occasionally get people who have sorted out their US quarters and rolled them separately but we tell them that it's considered as canadian and while we take them and give them face value in canadian we just redistribute them to our businesses basically as 'canadian' coin, no new value.

Also, buying back currency is always at a lower rate than what is set by either BoC or BoA so taking it at par is likely to be the best rate regardless of which nation is doing the exchanging, at least until one currency becomes remarkably stronger than the other. It's really just a simply recalibration of the machines to make them only accept american coins so if Disney hasn't done so I'm guessing it's because it's a bit of a non-issue.

 

[Aspoonfullofsugar]

I grew up in a Midwestern town on the border in the days when the dollar had a higher value. It was very common to get Canadian change and even bills mixed in with American money. Many stores would post their exchange rate. Even though their money was worth less, the prices were higher in Canada, so many Canadians would drive down to do back to school shopping and Christmas shopping. Generally coins of a quarter or less would accepted at equal value in change. Every year where I worked someone would attempt to pay for their purchase in rolls of quarters. We would always charge them the exchange rate. Most accepted it with a shrug but occasionally someone would become indignant and we would have to call the manager.

 

[bcla]

I started looking into this, and I found out that DL actually has machines that will press quarters and dimes. I'm thinking as long as the foreign coin that's the **raw material** is placed in there, it would be legal (at least in the US). I'm not sure what the consequence would be on return to Canada.

Someone also mentioned strange coloration of Canadian pennies when squished. US pennies have been zinc core with a thin covering of copper-zinc since the 1982 minting year. They're actually about 97% zinc. When pressed they can show streaks of zinc as the cover is stretched out.

http://www.parkpennies.com/pressed-pennies-disneyland/dl0001-mickey-pressed-penny.htm

I've been to some of these machines where people using them are specifically searching their pockets for pre-1982 pennies which are a uniform and about 95% copper. Technically they're either brass or bronze depending on what years.

1982 may be tricky since they did both types.

 

[damo]

I started looking into this, and I found out that DL actually has machines that will press quarters and dimes. I'm thinking as long as the foreign coin that's the **raw material** is placed in there, it would be legal (at least in the US). I'm not sure what the consequence would be on return to Canada.

Someone also mentioned strange coloration of Canadian pennies when squished. US pennies have been zinc core with a thin covering of copper-zinc since the 1982 minting year. They're actually about 97% zinc. When pressed they can show streaks of zinc as the cover is stretched out.

http://www.parkpennies.com/pressed-pennies-disneyland/dl0001-mickey-pressed-penny.htm

I've been to some of these machines where people using them are specifically searching their pockets for pre-1982 pennies which are a uniform and about 95% copper. Technically they're either brass or bronze depending on what years.

1982 may be tricky since they did both types.

That's what I thought the OP wanted to use the Canadian coins for. It is neater when it is done with your own country's money.

 

[Michael623]

Can I get this back on topic????

I am a hard core penny squisher (700+) and I have tried Canadian quarters in many US machines and they have never worked. They are just a tad smaller and the machine knows it. I have however squished older Canadian cents (copper) because I prefer copper squished pennies to zinc.