and we've got $1 and $2 coins, you ? 

Yes we have Loonies for $ 1 and Toonies for $ 2 coins. I kept a couple of the old one and two Dollars bills as the paper versions are long gone.

I found a Canadian one-cent piece in my pocket today and briefly meditated on how we pass around foreign currency just like our own, and wouldn't the world be a little better if we didn't make so much of nationality.

That is a good point Ivandh. I have a number of American coins that I've collected from my change over the years. I'm very glad that the USA and Canada get along so well as neighbours. 

Quite a funny item is in the news today. There is an old expression that states: the Mounties always get their Man. Now we can add that they always get their drunks as well. A drunk was recently put in the back of a Mountie patrol car and he was such a happy fellow that he just sang and sang. The video of this happy guy has become a hit on the internet ( I just wonder exactly what was he drinking  lol ).    

In recent news we come across a item pertaining to Murphy's law. It would seem that Murphy has taken aim at the Cruise ship industry. The sad case of the Costa Concordia is well known of course as she lays on her side just off the coast of Italy. That tragedy has cost 32 lives. Somewhat better luck has occured in the case of the Azamora Quest whch has now safely limped into port in Malaysia. However 5 crewmembers were injured in the engineroom fire on this ship. The Azamora Quest carried 590 passengers and 411 crewmembers. With the large number of people carried on Cruise ships let us hope that their safety record improves. 

The US changed their pennies to zinc a while back when it was calculated that there was more than 1 cent worth of copper in them.

In 1943, Lincoln was made from steel to save copper for the war.

I once got one back in change at a store not too long ago! (also another time a silver nickel). 

Thanks for all of the recent info. I haven't seen any of the new USA pennies up here yet, are they still the same colour ? Did they change anything else on the design ? I'll be very interested to see one of those new pennies when they make their way over the border.

The latest pennies no longer have the Lincoln memorial on the reverse (Abe himself is still on the obverse). Instead they have a generic kind of shield.

I've got a copper plated steel WW2 penny--not a great rarity but nifty--and a bunch of regular steels. Also all the silver nickels from the war. Those I've always liked.

Thanks for the recent posts. One coin that I have liked very much is the 50 cent piece. I've been able to collect a few of these coins dated back to the 1960's and 70's, but I don't know if they even make them anymore. Anyone else have some of the 50 cent pieces and are they still being minted somewhere ?  

My favorite coin...I used to have a few of these:

I also once had one of these (not in quite that good a shape, but...).  It was the first year they were minted:

You can also see the shield on that one.  Shields were common on US coins in the 19th century...which makes this recent design a rather odd throwback:

Note btw that there have only been 2 basic types of US penny for the last 150 years!

Thanks for all of the recent info. Thanks for posting those photos AndyClifton, I had no idea that 3 cent pieces were even minted at one time, reminds me of the old joke about " being as phony as a three-dollar-bill  lol.

Alekhine, Thanks for the info. When one thinks of nearly two thirds of our planet being covered in water, a lot of potential energy stored there in the form of Hyrogen.     

Time to sneak in a little item about Chess. The April 2012 issue of Chess Life contains a article on the Analog Chess-clock. It seems that some new rules will lead to the death of these ticking little marvels and the Digital types will take charge. Progress keeps on rolling --- 

Here's another intriguing one: