How Canadian consumers can spot counterfeit $2 coins
There are several ways Canadian consumers can spot fake toonies circulating across the country, coin experts say.
The coins’ appearance, their weight, as well as die strike errors and even die misalignments can give them away as counterfeit $2 coins.
The counterfeits are suspected of being made in China, the RCMP has said.
The cost of raw materials and manufacturing costs are low enough in China to make the criminal venture profitable there, law enforcement and counterfeit coin experts said.
The case of Daixiong He in Toronto involved a mass-produced fake – not by He – which was spotted because of the erroneous split-toe design on the polar bear’s paw and a special probe by the RCMP and Royal Canadian Mint.
That fake coin shows the polar bear with what looks a camel’s hoof, not a paw.
That’s why it became known as the “camel-toe toonie.”
A Quebec man, Jean-Francois Genereux, was convicted this year of importing more than 26,000 fake toonies himself, ordering them himself on the Internet direct from a Chinese metal maker, to be imported into Canada and delivered by courier.
Genereux was sent to jail this year after he was caught by Canada Customs Border Services Canada.
A year ago, Global News learned that Genereux’s fakes were the same as a new $2 fake coin circulating as far as Northern Ontario.
It also has some unique design flaws that ordinary consumers can spot.
That batch of fakes displayed a 2012 year on the counterfeit coin.
Other distinctive flaws that allow this coin to be spotted as a fake toonie with the naked eye include:
Other fake $2 coins now include other years too, such as 1996, 2002, 2004, 2005 and 2006.
A genuine toonie made between 1996-2011 weighs about 7.31 grams.
Counterfeits featuring the same
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