A looney, or loonie, was a type of coin, equal to one Canadian dollar, that was used in Canada during the 20th century through the 22nd century. The looney featured the image of a loon on the reverse, and the head of the then-current monarch of Canada on the obverse.
Michael Eddington kept what he referred to as a "lucky loonie." It had been a family heirloom for over two hundred years, as of 2373. He left the loonie, along with other personal items, on Deep Space 9 when he joined the Maquis. Benjamin Sisko believed it might have been placed in an assay office locker after his defection, which reassured Eddington, who hoped it was, as it would be a shame to lose the coin. (DS9: "Blaze of Glory")
The script refers to the coin as a "looney" as opposed to a "loonie," the current correct spelling for the Canadian dollar coin. This was likely simply a misspelling.
Use of the term "lucky looney [sic]" was prescient as the phrase came into vogue five years later, during the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. There, a tradition was established of embedding one of these coins in the center of the ice prior to the finals of the Men's and Women's hockey competitions. Both Canadian teams went on to win gold. Since then, the Royal Canadian Mint has issued special "Lucky Loonie" pressings for every Olympics. loonie
External links[]
- Looney at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Loonie at Wikipedia