![]() ![]() ![]() She figured that, rather than advertise low gas prices, Canadian Tire should entice customers to return and buy merchandise from the store. Billes-when the company opened its first gas bar in 1958. The idea of Canadian Tire money was proposed by Muriel Billes-wife of the corporation’s co-founder A.J. Today, my uncle estimates he has 1,000 bills in his core collection, and another 5,000 that he keeps to trade. Like most people, I had no idea this club existed until my aunt married Lemire a decade ago. The store chain is not directly affiliated with them, but has rights to the organization’s name, and says it appreciates the group’s ongoing loyalty and support. Members of the Canadian Tire Coupon Collector’s Club have been cataloguing, preserving and trading Canadian Tire money since 1990, compiling a list they believe includes every coupon ever found. “They don’t know that these coupons can actually be worth something.”Īt least 250 people across the country, however, know full-well. “If I tell somebody that I collect Canadian Tire money they usually laugh and say something like, ‘Oh, so you want to buy a new barbecue?’” says Lemire. A 50-cent note issued in 1958 is now worth upwards of $1,500 this month, an anomalous $2 bill from 1989 went up for auction with a reserve price of $3,000. Many people remember a time when they came across Sandy McTire’s face smiling from a stash in their grandmother’s kitchen cupboard. But for some, Canadian Tire money has far greater worth than its face value. Lemire tucked it into a plastic sleeve, and called a friend to crow about his find. The serial number on the back of the Canadian Tire coupon is what made it special-the amount of space between each of the 10 digits was a few millimetres less than on a standard bill. He flipped through the wad and stopped abruptly when he came across a $2 bill. It had been issued in 1992, and it took a matter of seconds for Lemire to realize the note was worth thousands of dollars. Marc-André Lemire stood at the counter of a Canadian Tire store in Montreal, with a fist full of multi-coloured money he’d just received from the cashier. Canadian Tire money bundled at a store in Toronto(Reynard Li/Bloomberg/Getty Images) ![]()
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