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Canadian currency (Canadian Dollar, CAD) in forex

Note 1 - The Bank of Canada's Currency Museum is credited as having the most comprehensive collection of Canadian bank notes, coins and tokens in the world today. In addition, the museum allows you to learn about the history of the Canadian currency as well as the way in which Canadian bank notes are printed and designed today.

Note 2 - David Dodge, Governor of the Bank of Canada, commented on May 28, 2007 that a unified currency with the U.S is possible. This comment facilitated much discussion amongst the Canadian public. While the public expressed views that were both in favor and against the possibility of united currency, there was no explicit primary reason given as to why Canadians should maintain its own currency as opposed to unifying its currency with the U.S. Surely if Canada were to unify its dollar with the American dollar, it would lose the publicly owned Bank of Canada.

Note 3 - The first currency ever used in Canada were Spanish Dollars and consisted of eight reales coins issued by Spain and its colonies. Since the colonies were involved with a lot of accounting (see Canadian Pound), it was vital for Canadians to give a set value for the Spanish Dollar. Different ratings were used in the different colonies. The Halifax rating was introduced in 1750 and quickly became the most commonly used rating in the northern colonies. It officially valued the Spanish Dollar at 5 Shillings (note: the value of the silver dollar was equal to 4 Shillings 6 Pence, known as the "London Rating").

Follwing the American War of Independence, United Empire Loyalists, who were settling in Upper Canada (Ontario) at the time, brought the York rating (named after York, England) which equated 1 Spanish Dollar to 8 shillings. This was officially outlawed (in favour of the Halifax rating) in 1796, however the York rating continued to be used well into the 19th century.

Note 4 - The Province of Canada declared that all accounts would be kept in dollars and cents as of January 1, 1858. The first official Canadian coins were issued in the very same year. The colonies that came together during Canadian Confederation in 1867 progressively adopted a decimal system over the next few years.

Finally in April 1871, the Federal Parliament of Canada passed the Uniform Currency Act, terminating the currencies existing in various other provinces and replacing them with a common Canadian dollar. The gold standard was temporarily suspended during the First World War, and then permanently abandoned on April 10, 1933.