Canadian Coins Not Nano-Tech Espionage Devices 412
Necrotica writes "An odd-looking Canadian coin with a bright red flower was the culprit behind the U.S. Defence Department's false espionage warning earlier this year.
The odd-looking — but harmless — "poppy coin" was so unfamiliar to suspicious U.S. Army contractors traveling in Canada that they filed confidential espionage accounts about them. The worried contractors described the coins as "anomalous" and "filled with something man-made that looked like nano-technology," according to once-classified U.S. government reports and e-mails obtained by the AP."
Conspiracy? (Score:5, Interesting)
I mean really, nanotech in coins? They use nanotech in computer processors and look how much time and effort it takes to make one of them.
Typical Defense Security Service (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:wow (Score:3, Interesting)
Re:From the original FUD piece (Score:2, Interesting)
I agree. It is amazing that they used a high power microscope to analyze the coin but did not even try a simple web search (as you mentioned, the first hits for "remember souvenir" are right on the spot) and did not consider looking at www.mint.ca.
Royal Canadian Mint is very High Tech... (Score:5, Interesting)
"The Mint has been at the forefront of currency innovation. Among the Mint's technical innovations have included its plating process, which consists of a multi-ply technology that allows electromagnetic signatures to be embedded in the coins, assuring readability in the coin-processing industries.[3] Its other innovation was the world's first coloured circulation coin, the 2004 Remembrance Day 25 cent piece, with a red poppy on the reverse. Further innovation was achieved with the adaptation of the Physical Vapour Deposition (PVD) technology to coat its dies, extending the life of the die beyond that of past chrome coated dies.[4]" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Mint [wikipedia.org]
Now, consider that the mint also makes coins for many other countries, US military contractors and security conscious travelers can be even more paranoid.
By the way, Canadian money is made by and controlled by the Canadian government... Do you know who makes and controls US currency? If you guessed the US government, you should check again.
Re:Canada vs. US (Score:4, Interesting)
Well, I would say that Americans remember their history lessons too, but most of them don't. Of course, the association of poppies with WW1 isn't really a part of American (US) culture. We cleverly avoided that part of that bit of unpleasantness.
As a side note, do you know what Camerone Day is? Why not? Perhaps because it's not part of YOUR history....
and that a "red poppy looking flower" is probably A POPPY!!!
Which clearly shows that the coin is an advertisement for a druglord, eh? :)
Re:Better Safe Than Sorry, Eh (Score:5, Interesting)
What I want to know is why it didn't occur to anyone to 1) call Canada and ask them or 2) call a coin collector and ask them or 3) use google, rather than running around like headless chickens.
Pity it wasn't the one dollar coin, then we could have had a cheap jibe about loonies. Oh well, eh.
Here's the coin to be worried about.... (Score:1, Interesting)
http://www.mint.ca/royalcanadianmintpublic/index.
Or to quote wikipedia: "On May 3, 2007, the Royal Canadian Mint unveiled a Gold Maple Leaf coin with a face value of One Million Dollars, though the gold content was worth over $2 million at the time. It measures 50 cm in diameter by 3 cm thick and weighs 100 kilograms, with a purity of 99.999%."
100 Kilograms equals roughly 220 pounds. Sadly however, it is doubtful that coin would fit in most American vending machines.
Re:From the original FUD piece (Score:3, Interesting)
It's worth pointing out that "souvenir" on the coin does not mean that it is a souvenir 25-cent piece. The coin is legal tender, and souvenir is the infinitive form of the verb to remember in French.
Re:Hardly surprising... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:Canada vs. US (Score:5, Interesting)
In Flander's Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.
Liet. -Col. John McCrae
Re:Royal Canadian Mint is very High Tech... (Score:4, Interesting)
Do you have any information to back that up? Last time I checked all US bills and most US coins have US Treasury mints marks printed on them. All US Treasury mints are in the US. All the paper for US bills are made from recycled cotton (jeans) in one paper mill in MA, where the watermarks and security bands are embedded during the paperforming process. The fact that this papermill has a monopoly on paper for US bills has caused considerable consternation among those who would like to cut the cost of creating money. Metal for US coins is similarly controlled.
I am not trying to flame/be a troll, I honestly would like to know your sources.
Also, do the Candian mints sell uncirculated collector sets like the US mints? These poppy coins seem pretty neat, I would like to get a collector set.
Re:wow (Score:2, Interesting)
I've heard it argued that modern micro-processors should be called nanotechnology since they're made with transistors on sub-100nm scales. Note that the processors themselves are quite visible with the naked eye.
Re:Conspiracy? (Score:2, Interesting)
I certainly think the contractors did the right thing be reporting it to the government. How it got handled after that is another story.
Re:Royal Canadian Mint is very High Tech... (Score:3, Interesting)