Loony By Default

The original reverse design for the new dollar was originally supposed to to be a continuation of the voyageur design used since 1935 on Canada's dollar coins. The master dies were sent by courier from the Ottawa mint to the Winnipeg mint and were either lost or stolen in transit. A new design had to be found for the reverse to prevent counterfeiting using the missing dies. The larger nickel voyageur dollar which wasn't going to be minted, was pressed into action and were only available in the uncirculated sets. The new loon design was chosen and the rest is history.