""But, hey, if it wasn't true, how did it get on a website?""

There are a variety of websites, including this one. Many have sketchy or no information sources and one can easily make personal assumptions in many directions using just about any info.

I would expect a Canadian government heritage website to have some level of source accuracy. If not, it needs to be rectified. It seems reasonable to take them up on their claims.

Of course, Canada or USA currency did not exist before the countries were formed? However, early barter items did, including fur industry coins and tokens. IMO, It is not "a reach"to speculate that many of these items had local common terms-that could have easily caught on and morphed into broader use and in later currency. And, skin/fur related common terms makes sense. I suspect most fur traders and suppliers traded all available animal furs/skins - including white tail deer and beaver at the same time. The specific skin that was on their mind in tranactions may have been different in different areas, depending on the mix and traders involved.

(Regardless, Lighter, why so tense on the topic? It is just another mudcat topic with little actual consequence to any of us? With more information, we all learn. Sometimes this involves different perspectives early on - again all good).