Loonie with a Robert-Ralph Carmichael design of a common loon floating in water. The coin was immediately nicknamed the "loonie" across English Canada, and became known as a "huard", French for "loon", in Quebec. The loonie entered circulation on June 30, 1987, as 40 million coins were introduced into major cities across the country. Over 800 million loonies had been struck by the coin's 20th anniversary. Two years after the loonie's introduction, the Bank of Canada ceased production of the dollar banknote. The final dollar bills were printed on June 30, 1989. Initial support for the coin was mixed, but withdrawing
Voyageur dollar circulating dollar coin. To encourage circulation, the size was to be reduced, the colour was to be changed, and the one-dollar note eliminated from circulation. The Voyageur design was to be used. However, a set of dies depicting the design was lost in transit. To eliminate the risk of counterfeiting, an alternate design, featuring a loon, was used. This became known as the loonie. In 2003, in special proof sets honouring the fiftieth anniversary of the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the Voyageur design was struck again in sterling silver in a limited edition of 30,000. In 2017, the Royal