The hunt for millions of counterfeit toonies

Most people do not look at their coins. If you were to look closely at a toonie, you might see something strange. That is, if it’s a fake. And you will understand why it’s called the “camel-toe toonie” as soon as you look at the front right paw of the polar bear on it. Since first discovered in circulation in 2020, estimates range from at least tens of thousands to likely millions of these coins reaching circulation.

But who is behind it? How do you counterfeit toonies at scale and get them into the banking system? And … why toonies?

Brent Mackie, is the creator of cameltoetoonies.ca, a numismatist, and the treasurer of Waterloo Coin Society.

According to Mackie, it’s not the first time the Canadian two-dollar coin has been counterfeited and shown up in banks undetected.

“It certainly would be necessary to get that kind of volume into the bank by a bulk deposit or maybe something even more creative,” he said.

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