GOT A CHUCK BUCK?
Nov 14. — In celebration of King Charle’s 75th birthday, the Canadian Mint presented him on a comically large loonie in Winnipeg. Ole’ King Chuck is now being rolled out on the famous Canadian loonie and will be featured on our 20-dollar bill soon enough.
The loonie was first presented in 1987, also in Winnipeg.
The most notable thing about the coin’s creation? There was never meant to be a loon on the loonie, it was meant to depict two men on a canoe; however, the coin dies, which is the template for a coin design, were lost en route between Ottawa and Winnipeg. The loon design was never intended to be used as the main coin but due to a time crunch, the famous loon got on the coin. Queen Elizabeth joined the loon on the flip side of the new dollar coin.
And of course, the nickname ‘Loonie’ is just so catchy. But now with King Chuck on the one-dollar coin, we must reevaluate.
Imagine you and a loved one are waiting in the emergency room for over 12 hours, an experience as Canadian as the Loonie. You’re a bit hungry. You head over to the vending machine and an overpriced bag of Hickory Sticks catches your eye. It’s four dollars and you only have three dollars in your pocket. You look your loved one right in the eye and ask, “Hey, you got a Chuck Buck?”
32 per cent of Canadians view King Charles favourably, and it seems fair to suspect this will only decline. This begs the question: why are we willing to spend Canadian resources to put a guy the vast majority of us do not care about on our coins? Don’t we have other things to worry about other than this?
It’s important to mention that the Canadian Mint does in fact turn a profit; but how does poppin’ out ‘Chuck Bucks’ contribute to said profit exactly? And if the resources must be spent, why must it be someone who’s barely contributed to Canadian history and society?
But of course, there’s always a bright side, and the bright side is that ‘Chuck Buck’ is such a better nickname than ‘Loonie’.
And of course, it’s against royal etiquette to call a Royal by their name, let alone a nickname, so let’s all collectively choose to call our one-dollar coin a ‘Chuck Buck’. Considering that Chuck is a relatively unheard nickname for Charles in the U.K. but much more common in North America, it’s an apt nickname.
If we must have ole’ King Chuck on our beloved one-dollar coin, let’s make it slightly derogatory.
Editors Note: 21/11/23 was edited to exclude a factual inaccuracy.
