Curator & Collector

Image of loonie with “notankers” sticker applied taken from the Dogwood Initiative

The Georgia Straight, the CBC, and other local BC newspapers are reporting on a recent numismatic imbroglio involving an environmental group called the Dogwood Initiative and the Royal Canadian Mint. Essentially, the Dogwood Initiative is selling stickers that can be applied to loonies, making the loon and water black like oil. The purpose is to raise awareness of the dangers of oil spills on Canada’s West Coast. The stickers are fully removable.

According to the Georgia Straight article:

The Royal Canadian Mint, however, maintains in its letter that Section 11 of the Currency Act bans the use of coins for any reason other than as currency.

“Contravention of this section of the Currency Act can lead to liability on summary conviction to a fine and or imprisonment,” the mint’s legal counsel, Kathryn Reynolds, wrote.

The Dogwood Initiative is not giving in. Without commenting just yet on the merits of the Dogwood Initiative’s stated goals, I wonder, as a collector, if collecting counts in Canadian Law as a “use” other than “as currency.” If so, that would mean numismatists have a “dog” in this fight, if I may put it that way.

Personally, I find this idea rather appealing, and if I were ever to receive such a coin in change, I would most certainly keep it as a collector’s item. It will be interesting to see if the Mint, which on the surface appears to be acting with a somewhat heavy hand, is able to win this case. In the meantime, my sympathy tends to be with the Dogwood Initiative: the planet has got to get off its addiction to oil, for the love of crude is the root of all evil, damaging the environment and supporting brutal dictatorships.