Should You Order Canadian Dollars With FairFX?
Written by Hayley Baker on March 22nd, 2010
History of the Canadian Dollar
The Canadian dollar, otherwise known as the CAD, was established in 1817 and was printed in the Bank of Montreal. With the Spanish dollar being the most common form of currency at the time in North America, the CAD was made official in 1858 replacing the pound system in place at the time. Certainly, the United States dollar (USD) was also an influential factor due to the cultural and geographical closeness of the two countries. Also in reference to US currency, the coins and bills in Canada are almost identical to those of the US, with the exception of the people highlighted on the currency. Canadian coins are also similarly organized to those within the US, at one, five, ten and twenty-five cents. Canadian change is produced to be the same size and out of the same metals as US change, even though it is not usually taken as a way of payment there.
The Conversion Rates From the Historical British Pound Sterling and the Canadian Dollar
Historically, the British pound sterling has always favored better than the Canadian dollar, which is mainly due to how the money is backed. History has shown that sterling is a more viable method of backing currency than is gold, the method of backing currency for the CAD. Variations with the CAD are much like those with the US dollar being both are amatch for each other when it comes to worth and economic influences. The worst historical exchange rate for the CAD showed up in 1948, when the Canadian dollar exchanged for only .25 GBP to CAD. Since this historical trough, the CAD has been able to move somewhat steadily between .33 GBP to CAD and .5 GBP to CAD; the high point for the Canadian dollar came in 1984 at a rate of .58 GBP to CAD. The rates were looking to be the best between the end of the 70s to the start of the 90s, since then the rates dropping back down.
Recent Exchange Rates Between The CAD & GBP
In the past decade, the currency exchange rate as a whole has stayed at about .44 GBP to CAD. The numbers are beginning to resemble those of the early 70s when the currency was starting to fare better, which begs the question of whether or not the CAD is heading in a downward trend. The ideal time for the Canadian dollar in the past several years was in 2006 while the rate was up to .48 GBP to CAD. The worst time was in 1999 when rates hit .42 GBP to CAD. The consensus moving forward seems to be that the exchange rates will remain somewhat flat or even decline in the near future, certainly being affected by what the economic climate of the period is.
Fair FX offer some of the best exchange rates around on their range of prepaid cards. Have a look at their current rates, and check out exactly how much you could save.
This entry was posted on Monday, March 22nd, 2010 at 7:04 am and is filed under Forex. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
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