The Bank of Canada has a message for many Leonard Nimoy fans: Stop Spocking our bills.
To honor the late actor Leonard Nimoy, Canadian fans have been marking up Canadian $5 bills (worth $4.02 US), turning the face of Sir Wilfrid Laurier into Nimoy’s Star Trek character by adding slanted eyebrows and pointed ears; some variations even include the Vulcan salute. The trend, referred to as Spocking, is a tribute to Nimoy who passed away on February 27, 2015.
Sir Wilfrid Laurier (with or without Vulcan ears) has made an appearance on a number of bills issued by the bank, including the 1935 and 1937 versions of the $1000 bill and several versions of the $5 bill. Why so popular? Sir Laurier was the seventh Prime Minister of Canada and served four terms at the turn of the 20th century, making him the fourth-longest serving Prime Minister of Canada. He’s notable for helping grow the country and aiding efforts to distance the country from Great Britain. Canadians also think he bears a slight resemblance to Spock – thus, the craze.
Fans have taken to social media to share their Spocked bills. The trend has become so popular that the Bank of Canada has asked fans to please stop. It’s a plea, however, not an order. In Canada, it is not illegal to mark up bills and marked up bills are still useful as legal tender. However, Bank of Canada spokeswoman Josianne Menard is hopeful that the practice will stop soon, saying, “The Bank of Canada feels that writing and markings on bank notes are inappropriate as they are a symbol of our country and a source of national pride.”
There’s also a bigger issue than national pride at stake: money. Marking up bills can limit their lifespan. Replacing those bills costs taxpayer money. The Bank of Canada should know: according to the Bank’s website, it “is the country’s sole authority for issuing bank notes, responsible for the design, production and distribution of Canada’s bank notes.”
The Spocked bills are most commonly drawn on paper notes. While a new polymer bill, introduced in 2011, is making the rounds, it’s more difficult to mark up. The new bills are also costly: in 2013, it cost $166 million (CAD), or $133.33 million (US), to print 675 million polymer notes.
In the United States, our bills are issued by the Federal Reserve and printed (mostly) on cotton fiber paper by Bureau of Engraving and Printing. U.S. coins are produced by the United States Mint.
Marking up those bills in the U.S. can be a crime. Under 18 U.S.C. §333, you can be fined or face jail time for altering a bill if the intent is to make the bill unfit for circulation:
Whoever mutilates, cuts, defaces, disfigures, or perforates, or unites or cements together, or does any other thing to any bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt issued by any national banking association, or Federal Reserve bank, or the Federal Reserve System, with intent to render such bank bill, draft, note, or other evidence of debt unfit to be reissued, shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than six months, or both.
Chances are, Spocking a dollar bill wouldn’t rise to the level of making it unfit for circulation: that seems highly illogical. But, as in Canada, replacing worn out, mutilated or defaced currency does cost taxpayer money: the U.S. new-currency budget for 2015 is $717.9 million.
Maybe a quick Vulcan salute as a tribute is a better idea – it’s certainly more economical. I have to think both Spock and Nimoy would appreciate that.
