Newfoundland 2 dollar coin minted in London. Newfoundland's two dollar coin was broadly used not only in Newfoundland, but also in Eastern Canada in general. The supply of the coins "virtually disappeared" in 1894, when Newfoundland's banks and monetary system collapsed. With paper banknotes being distrusted, the gold coins were hoarded, as well as two next-highest Newfoundland denominations, the silver 50-cent and 20-cent pieces. With its two-dollar coin, Newfoundland became the only British colony to issue circulating gold coinage apart from Sydney Mint which issued Australian sovereigns from 1855 onwards. Gold coinage was used in Canada and other British domains. For example, in the
Canadian dollar the Canadian dollar coin from the dollar bill. When the two-dollar coin was introduced in 1996, the derivative word "toonie" ("two loonies") became the common word for it in Canadian English slang. In French, the currency is also called ; Canadian French slang terms include or (the original word used in 18th-century French to translate "dollar") and (equivalent to "loonie", since is French for "loon," the bird appearing on the coin). The French pronunciation of (pronounced similarly to English as or , not like the word for hundred, or ) is generally used for the subdivision; is another, informal, term