This conversation is cracking me up for some reason. Anyway, from Wiki:
Loonie is the name Canadians gave the gold-coloured, bronze-plated, one-dollar coin shortly after its introduction. It bears images of a common loon, a well-known Canadian bird, on the reverse, and of Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.
The design for the coin was meant to be a voyageur theme, similar to the country's previous one dollar/silver dollar coin, but the reverse dies were lost by a courier service while in transit to the Royal Canadian Mint in Winnipeg. In order to avoid possible counterfeiting, a different design was used [1]. The coin was released to the public on 30 June 1987, and circulation of the one-dollar banknote was intentionally reduced at the same time to forestall any reluctance by the public to accept the new coin. As a result, the introduction of the coin was successful in achieving public acceptance in a fairly smooth fashion.
The coin has become the symbol of its currency. Newspapers will often discuss the rate at which the loonie is trading against the United States dollar. The nickname loonie (huard in French), initially a slang term for the Canadian dollar, became so widely recognized that in 2006 the Royal Canadian Mint secured the rights to the name "Loonie".