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Poppy coins |
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| Princeton, Ontario - Monday, October 25, 2004 - by: Rebecca Gingrich | |||||||
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Beginning on October 21, 2004, the new poppy coin will be available from Tim Hortons locations across Canada. Tim Hortons, a distinctive Canadian enterprise, is the Mint's exclusive distribution partner for the poppy coin. Because coins are produced to meet demand, poppy coins will also be available at financial institutions in the months following the coin's unveil. |
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Above is an excerpt from the press release of the Royal Canadian Mint. This raises some interesting questions. Why is one business (an American owned business --Wendy's) chosen to be the sole distributors of this important coin? | ||||||
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| Our Veterans fought for all Canadians, not just a government-designated foreign-owned business. Why is this business more capable of distributing this coin than other stores in Canada? If the coin is to be available in all financial institutions across Canada, why single out one business to the detriment of all others? Is the government-owned Mint playing on our reverence for our Veterans to promote this business? Is this crass commercialism at the expense of our Veterans? | |||||||
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| Rememberance Day is a time to give thanks to our brave men and women who fought and died for us, all of us. I fail to see how associating this coin with increasing business for Tim Hortons is in keeping with Rememberance Day. And associated with increasing business it is. No purchase. No coin | |||||||
| Buy a poppy from a Veteran. And don't forget to say thank-you. | |||||||
| Addition information: Wednesday, October 27, 2004 | |||||||
| I spoke with a representative yesterday from the Royal Canadian Mint. They explained that there is no sponsorship or money being made on the Poppy Coin available at Tim Hortons. They went on to add that they have used corporate sponsors in the past to help with the distribution of commermerative coins such as the Royal Bank for the Olympic coin series. They also added that the rights to the use of the poppy are owned by the Royal Canadian Legion who fully endorsed the idea. Currently the mint does not have an ability to distribute coins evenly across the country. | |||||||
| When they give them to banks, there is no way on knowing how or where the coins will be introduced in circulation. It is a random process and some areas of the country are left out because of a limitation of supply. After the Tim Hortons run is finished the coin will be released to all national banks. | |||||||
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