Oh Canada!

One of the more refreshing aspects of living in Australia is the sporting culture. Whether it’s at the recreational or professional level, sports are a large part of the lives of Australians. With the warm climate people are easily persuaded to get outside and involved in sporting activities. Subsequently, sports that are popular amongst Canadians, namely (ice) hockey, do not attract nearly the same attention in Australia. The large percentage of sports news, on television or in the newspapers, pertains to statistics, interviews, and highlights in cricket, tennis, Aussie rules football, rugby, football (soccer), field hockey, netball, polo, and lawn bowling. Thus far, I have witnessed the names of Lebron James, and the like, mentioned once in the media; refreshing to say the least. Although frustrating at times, it has been fun trying to decipher the lingo, rules and strategy of these ‘new’ sports.

Needless to say, coverage of the World Junior Hockey Championship was non-existent. I only became aware that Canada was preparing to play the Russians in the gold medal game via a Skype conversation with my parents. Being a proud Canadian I felt it was my patriotic duty to at least follow the play-by-play action of the final game online. Unfortunately, as everyone must know by now, the Russians proved to be too much and handed the Canadians a 5-3 loss. I couldn’t help but wonder if a ‘lucky loonie’ had been placed somewhere in the ice for good luck. For a tradition starting at the 2002 Winter Olympics, it has had a tremendous correlation to the success of the Canadian hockey and curling teams. One would assume that it would be foolish not to attempt to continue this tradition no matter the risk involved. Upon further research, it appears that the ‘lucky loonie’ did not make an appearance at this year’s World Juniors Hockey Championship, and hence, the trend continues.

The Australian coins with a Canadian Loonie.

This got me thinking: In a land that speaks such a colourful dialect of English, what have the Aussie’s named their 1 dollar coin? To answer this question, Steph and I set off to the fountain of truth; the BWS. As we paid for our box of wine, we asked the BWS clerk if there was a special name for their 1 dollar coin. We were dumbfounded by the response. Aussie’s named their 1 dollar coin: the 1 dollar coin. Furthermore, none of their coins are uniquely named. They are simply named according to their denomination. This was unexpected and a little bit of a bore. What is intriguing about the Australian coins are the sizes and artwork. For the most part the sizing makes sense. Starting from the 5 cent coin, and working your way up to larger denominations, the coins get larger. However, once you reach the 50 cent coin, the size becomes annoyingly large and begins to resemble an arcade token more than an official piece of currency. As a result, the one and two dollar coins are smaller and made of aluminum bronze rather than cupro-nickel. As expected, the artwork represents the Australian culture. The 2 dollar coin depicts an aboriginal elder, the 1 dollar coin depicts five kangaroos, the 50 cent coin carries Australia’s coat of arms, the 20 coin features a platypus, the 10 cent coin features a male lyrebird dancing, and the 5 cent coin depicts an echidna.  

But don’t worry; we still hold our heads high, despite the 5-3 loss, knowing that we are products of a country which is home to the toonie, loonie, quarter, dime, nickel, and penny. Oh Canada!