The Canadian Journey Bank Note Series

In 2001, a new series of Canadian banknotes was released to honor Canada's achievements, culture, and its history. The first of the bills released was the $10 bank note in 2001 followed by the $5 in 2002. Later in the year of 2004, the Bank of Canada issued a $100 note in March, a $20 note in September, followed by the $50 bill later in November. Following in May of 2005, the $10 bill was changed with more advanced security features along with the $5 banknote which was released again in November of 2006.

The original $5 and $10 Journey Series Notes had four security points:

1) Three maple leaves that shined brightly when you tilt the note.

2) There was a see-through number to the left of the portrait.

3) There are three places where the ink is thicker, giving it a raised feel to it.

4) On the portrait is a picture of the Coat of Arms along with "BANK OF CANADA" and "BANQUE DU CANADA"  which only appears under UV light.

The more recent $5 and $10 bills along with the $20, $50, and $100 notes have six updated security points:

1) A metallic, holographic stripe that goes width-wise on the left side of the note.

2) A small watermark of the portrait to the right of the actual portrait.

3) Security threads that change from gold to green when you tilt the bill.

4) A see-through number when the note is held up to the light can be seen just to the left of the giant number.

5) Places on the bill, such as the coat of arms, portrait, big number, and the wording "BANK OF CANADA" and "BANQUE DU CANADA" have thicker ink, giving these areas a raised feel to them.

6) On the portrait, the bill's worth, "BANK OF CANADA", and "BANQUE DU CANADA" appears under UV light in yellow and red.

The Canadian $5 note has Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the obverse and the reverse shows a picture of children playing.

The Canadian $10 banknote has Sir John A. Macdonald pictured on the front while the back on the bill has a scene representing a Remembrance Day.

The Canadian $20 Journey Series note has Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and the reverse represents Canada's arts and culture.

The 2004 Canadian $50 bill shows William Lyon Mackenzie King's portrait on the front and the reverse represents nation building.

The 2004 Canadian $100 Journey Series banknote portrays Sir Robert Laird Borden on the front while pictures of Canada's exploration and innovation are on the back.

Birds of Canada Bank Note Series

The fifth Canadian bank notes series was the Birds of Canada series released in 1986. Using intaglio printing, the Bank of Canada made the bank notes with bigger portraits on the front. On the reverse of the note was a picture of a bird that could be found in Canada, but the bird had to go with the color of the note. The $20, $50 and $100 notes were printed with new security features to prevent counterfeiting. These features include:

1.) An Optical Security Device in the left-hand corner of the bill which changes colors when light hit it a certain way.

2.) Green dots on the bill when under a UV light glow blue. Trying to get rid of these dots will damage the bill.

3.) The large numbers and portrait on the note have raised ink that feels thicker.

The other big change in this series was that no $1 note was printed. This is because the $1 note and later the $2 note were replaced by more enduring coins, the Loonie and the Twoonie. The $1 and $2 banknotes are still considered legal tender, but they have slowly been taken out of circulation. In 2000, the $1000 bill was retired to help prevent organized crime and money laundering.

Each of the Birds of Canada banknotes had a different bird on the back of it, they are as follow:

The $2 note had Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse and on the reverse were robins.

The $5 banknote pictured Sir Wilfred Laurier (he was prime minster from 1896-1911)on the front with the Belted Kingfisher bird on the back.

The $10 bank note showed the portrait of Canada's first prime minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, who served from 1867-1873 and again from 1878-1891, on the front and an Osprey on the reverse.

The $20 Birds of Canada note pictured the Common Loon on the back and Queen Elizabeth II on the obverse.

The $50 Birds of Canada bill has a Snowy Owl on the back and former Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King (he served from 1921 until 1930 and then again in1935 to 1943) was portraid on the front.

The $100 note showed the Canadian Goose on the reverse and on the obverse was Sir Robert Borden (prime minister from 1911 until 1920).

The $1000 Birds of Canada banknote pictured Queen Elizabeth II on the front and Pine Grosbeaks on the back.

Scenes of Canada Banknote Series

Starting in 1969, the fourth series of Canadian banknotes was released. This series is called the Scenes of Canada Banknote Series. The Bank of Canada printed this set of notes from 1969 to 1979 because of troubles over the amount of counterfeiting.

There were many changes to this order of banknotes colorwise to help prevent counterfeiting. On most of the bills, except the $1 bill, black ink was not used for printing. There were new colorful and curvy patterns to the bills and the series became known as the "multicoloured series". The $1000 note was not a part of this set of banknotes. Although the bills were still bilingual, English was not always printed on the left of the bill as French was not always printed on the right as on the previous series of banknotes. Because the currency of Canada was not tradable for gold the phrase "will pay to the bearer on demand" was interchanged with the phrase "this not is legal tender".

To greater national identity, former Canadian prime ministers were pictured on some of the bills. Queen Elizabeth II was initially supposed to be on all of the banknotes, but the Minister of Finance ordered that not all of the bills have the queen's portrait on them.

On the reverse of the Scenes of Canada $1 bill was a sight of the parliament buildings from across the Ottawa River in Ontario.

The $2 note had an Inuit hunting picture taken in Baffin Island on the back of it.

On the front of the $5 bill was Sir Wilfrid Laurier's picture and on the reverse was a salmon seiner boat on the Johnstone Starit in British Columbia.

Sir John A. Macdonald was on the 1971 $10 banknote and on the back of the bill an oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario was shown.

The Rocky Mountains and Moraine Lake in Alberta are shown on the back of the $20 note.

The Scenes of Canada $50 note had William Lyon Mackenzie King on its obverse and on the reverse was the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Musical Ride.

The Scenes of Canada $100 Banknote has Sir Robert Borden on front and the Lunenburg Harbour, Nova Scotia.

The Canadian 1954 Bank Note Series

The Coat of Arms of Canada as depicted in 1923...
Image via Wikipedia

The 1954 Canadian Bank Note Series was the third set of Canadian bank notes. There was another variety of this series released two years later in 1956. Though released in 1954, the Bank of Canada's third order of bank notes were prepped in 1952. This is due to Queen Elizabeth II's taking the Royal Crown in 1952.

Although the 1954 Bank Notes look a lot different compared to the 1937 Canadian Bank Notes, the notes are still bilingual and all of the notes have the same color they did in the 1937 series. All of the notes have Queen Elizabeth II pictured on the front of them and this is the only series of bank notes that this has happened.

To prevent the portrait from being worn out from folding, the Queen's picture was moved to the right. The bills design was made simpler and the back of the bills now had Canadian scenes. For the first time ever the Coat of Arms of Canada was used on a bank note in this series, being put as a portion of the bills' background design.

The modified version of this series in 1956 was because of the highlights in Queen Elizabeth's hair. There was arguments over this because it presented a mirage of a demon grinning behind the Queen's ear. This gave the notes of the series the title of "Devil's Head".

This is a list of the different sites pictured on the reverse of each 1954 bank note.

The 1954 $1Bank Note has the Saskatchewan prairie on the back of it.

The 1954 $2 Canadian note has a picture of country land in Richmond, Quebec.

The 1954 $5 bill has a image of  Otter Falls, Yukon.

The 1954 $10 note pictures a Rocky Mountain peak in Mount Burgess, British Columbia.

A winter landscape in Laurentians, Quebec is on the back of the 1954 $20 Canadian bill.

The 1954 $50 Canadian Bank Note portrays an image of Lockeport, Nova Scotia.

The 1954 $100 Canadian Note shows Okanagan Lake, British Columbia.

The 1954 $1000 Canadian Bank Note has a covered bridge pictured in L'Anse-Saint-Jean on the Saguenay River, Quebec.

In January 1967, a $1 banknote was made to celebrate the centennial of the Canadian Confederation. It had Queen Elizabeth's portrait on the front and it pictured the Original Parliament Buildings which were burned down in 1916.

The Canadian 1937 Bank Note Series

Two years after the 1935 Canadian Bank Note Series, the Bank of Canada printed its second series of bank notes. These notes were required to be produced as bilingual (English and French) because of altered Canadian government legislation. This series had the English writing on the left of the bills and the French writing on the right side of the bills.

Since King George V died on January 20, 1936 and Edward VIII resigned, most of the 1937 Canadian Bank Notes had the portrait of King George VI on the front of them. The only two bills that didn't have King George VI on them were the 1937 $100 Canadian Bank Note, which had Sir John A. Macdonald on its obverse, and the 1937 $1000 Canadian Bank Note, which had Sir Wilfird Laurier's portrait on its front.

The other changes to some of the bank notes are as followed:

The 1937 $2 Canadian Bank Note was now reddish brown color instead of blue and the reverse of the note had a picture of a harvest parable changed from the scene of transportation allegory on the 1935 bill.

The color of the 1937 $5 Canadian Bank Note was changed from orange to blue.

The harvest allegory on the back of the 1935 $10 Canadian Bank Note was changed to pictures symbolizing transportation on the reverse of the 1937 $10 Canadian Bank Note.

The meaningful images of agriculture were changed to pictures of fertility on the 1937 $20 Canadian Bank Note. The color of the bill was changed from rose red to olive green.

The only thing that was changed about the 1937 $50 Canadian Bank Note was its color from brown to orange.

The 1937 $100 Canadian Bank Note was made a lighter color of brown.

The 1937 $1000 Canadian Bank Note became a rose red color from its former dark green.

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