A Successful Coin Auction, And A Difference Between Canada And America

A very rare Canadian 1936 dot penny was auctioned off for more than $400,000 last Sunday, and the accompanying story illustrates a difference between Canada and the U.S. The most expensive U.S. coin is the 1933 $20 gold coin, which was yanked when President Roosevelt ended the gold standard domestically by ordering U.S. citizens to turn in their gold on pain of jail. The most expensive Canadian coin is the 1911 silver dollar, which was supposed to be the first Canadian silver dollar issue. The Canadian government didn't go through with it, and we Canadians didn't have a silver dollar until 1935.

A real difference. Some may be surprised to learn that Canada did not have a central bank until 1935. Nor, I add with a touch of patriotic pride, did Canada have a bank-run crisis in the early 1930s. There is such a thing as self-regulation, often administered by the words "shame on you!", even if it's about as rare as those two coins nowadays.