Remember When: Two-dollar bill

This photo was originally published in the Rosetown Eagle on February 26, 1996, accompanying one of the top stories of that week: the toonie replacing the two-dollar bill. This change came into effect across the country on February 19, 1996, when the coin was officially launched at Ben’s Deli in Montreal. The bill was withdrawn from production three days prior to the launch. The two different metals that comprise the coin are joined by a bimechanical locking mechanism. In the early days, there were reports that the locking mechanism could fail, causing the bimetallic coins to separate if struck hard enough or frozen. However, chances of that happening were described as being about one in 60 million, and purposely attempting to separate the two parts is considered to be “defacing coin currency” under the Canadian

PHOTO ROSETOWN CENTENNIAL LIBRARY ARCHIVES