The concept of the currency came later in Canada. The original inhabitants used to barter trades. They used copper, furs, and other items for trade. Since, there was a shortage of coins; the authorities used playing cards as currency.

Each province has their own currency modelled on British system of pounds-shillings-pence. The British colonial rule used pound as a currency. Due to disagreement, pound was discarded and Canada linked its currency to the US dollar giving strong local trade links.

The appearance of the common loon on the back of the $1 coin; the word loonie was adopted to distinguish the Canadian dollar coin from the dollar bill. Furthermore, when the $2 coin was introduced “two loonies” became the slang in Canadian English.