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| Laurier and the Canadian Currency.
Wilfrid Laurier (1841-1919) was prime minister of Canada for one extended term, 1896-1911. Perhaps his greatest accomplishment was his successful efforts to settle the Canadian West. By the outbreak of WW1, the population from Winnipeg to the Rockies stood at 1.3-million. It was also during his term that he had the pleasure to admit the new provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta into Confederation ( 1 Sept., 1905 ).
An ardent Canadian nationalist, he proved a sturdy negotiator at the various Imperial Conferences, constantly pushing for more rights and independence from Britain . He was also the founder of the Canadian Navy, modest in size though it was. Even though out of office, he was successful in scuttling Robert Borden's scheme to pay for three “dreadnoughts” – multi-million-pound super-ships – in return for the British Navy guarding Canada's borders.
Elected as the result of one “Question” – “The Manitoba School Question”of 1896 – he was turned out by another in 1911. Called “reciprocity” at the time, it was a proposed “Free Trade” agreement with the U.S. Although the terms were better than Canada would accept in 1986, a number of U.S. politicians and businessmen were loud in proclaiming that now they could take over Canada without firing a shot. The electorate turned both it and Laurier down.
Sir John A. Macdonald was the first Canadian prime minister to appear on Dominion currency: a $5000 bank legal of 1896 – five years after his death. Sir Wilfrid Laurier (he was knighted just after attaining prime ministership in 1896) had to wait until 1935 to do so, sharing the limelight with “Johnny Mac” then – and continuing to do so until the present day.
The photograph above left was that supplied to Edwin Gunn of the Canadian Bank Note Company to engrave into a portrait for the proposed Bank of Canada notes, series of 1935. On the card to which the photograph is pasted (dated, incidentally 30 July 1934 ), the name given is “Sir Wilfred Laurie”. Two mistakes: he was “Sir Wilfr i d Laurie r ”. Gunn engraved two similar portraits; the first still misspelled the name “Wilfred” but it was corrected on the second (shown) – which also shows a slightly larger head.
The approved designs for the 1935 Laurier $1000 is shown above. Finance Minister Rhodes gave his approval to the face design on 12 Nov. 1934 and to the back on 15 Nov. Both sides were printed in black over “Olive 85” tint. The finished notes had the following additions made to the face: double set of red serial numbers plus a black check letter (A,B,C or D) since each block of four had the same serial number. It was at this point that the Canadian Bank Note Company delivered the notes. Bank of Canada personnel added the signatures and seal by letterpress using plates prepared by the Royal Canadian Mint. The seal also included a small “1” to the right, identifying it as belonging to “Group One”, but the number needed was too small to ever require another.
Although the back design for this note is usually listed as “Security”, it is really “Protection” and was originally engraved back in 1917 by Edwin Gunn of the American Bank Note Company from a painting by A.E. Foringer. As it appears on the $1000 back was the work of William Jung of the Canadian Bank Note Company, Canadian branch of the ABNCo., and was completed 10 Sept. 1935 (approved 14 October). As a matter of interest, this same vignette appeared on the model of a “2 lempira” note for “El Banco Atlantida”, Honduras , in 1932.
Each note was printed in two versions: English and French – as were all the denominations of the 1935 issue. In common with them all, English notes had their serial number begin with an “A”, French notes with an “F”. In the case of the this $1000 issue, 66,500 English notes were issued (serial numbers A00001-16625/ A,B,C,D) and only 7,600 French (serial numbers F0001-01900/ A,B,C,D). Only one set of signatures were ever used: J.A.C. Osborne and G.F. Towers , both of which were “plate typed”. Aside from being the first Bank of Canada issue, rather than of the Dominion of Canada, the “1935”s were also the first issued in the new, smaller “American” size (6” x 2 7/8”). Yet another first was the new protection device of coloured “planchettes” scattered through the paper itself. Oddly, this $1000 note had the greatest longevity. Used almost exclusively by the banks as a kind of “bank legal”, it was not superceded until January, 1952 by the issue of 1937.
lthough Macdonald was the first prime minister to appear on the currency issued by the Canadian government, Laurier was the first to appear on that of a chartered bank - in this case the $25 denomination of the Farmers Bank of Canada released September 1, 1908 . On it, he appears with President Whitney, the first and only time (so far as I'm aware) that a prime minister appeared on Canadian currency during his term of office. Perhaps Laurier would later have not preferred this honour since this particular Toronto bank operated only a short time (1906-10) and collapsed in a welter of scandal to the total loss of the depositors and shareholders. The notes are still redeemable, however, and all are very rare, some being known only as face proofs. As of 1963, there was still outstanding only $1883.54 from this bank in denominations of $5 through $100. (The odd amount is due to unredeemed notes bearing an interest charge of 6% p.a. for a period of up to 60 days). Below is a British America Bank Note Company essai for the proposed $20 denomination of the 1935 issue. It went little beyond “putting a thought on paper” since it consists mostly of a paste-up of various borders and pictures with some pencilling added. What is most interesting is that both central designs would be used – or modified-and-used – in the future. And of course, the face portrait already had been used, meaning that Portrait 1 would bracket Portrait 2. The portrait of Laurier was engraved at the BABN in 1906 as “Die No. 166” by an unknown hand – but it was modified by Gordon Yorke years later to appear on the Bank of Canada $5 issue of 1972 (and later).
Left: Photograph of Laurier (Public Archives of Canada – photographer unknown) which seems to have been the model used to engrave the BABN “Die 166” portrait at Right.
With the accession of George VI in very late 1936 and the necessity for an entire new currency issue, that of 1935 was fairly short-lived – usually. The old $2 denomination of 1935 disappeared fairly quickly as, being in blue, it could be confused with the new $5 of the same colour. Consequently, all unissued stocks of the old issue were destroyed as soon as the new $5 were available and an active withdrawal was conducted. On the other hand, the little-used Laurier $1000 was not replaced until just weeks before George VI's death in 1952. Having separate French- and English-issues of notes proved to be overly costly and with the new 1937 issue, notes were made bi-lingual with an invisible line down the middle: English to the left, French to the right. This caused all face portraits to move to the center – King George $1 through $50; Macdonald on the $100 and Laurier on the $1000. The $500 denomination was dropped, never to return.
In many respects, the 1937 $1000 was similar to that of 1935 insofar as main designs were concerned, the “Protection” allegory being retained on the back. Perhaps the greatest change was the colour, which now became black over rose pink tint (face) and just rose pink on the back. Because of its relatively short length of issue, these notes exist with only one signature: J.A.C. Osborne / G.F. Towers (both plate-typed). The total issue was not large either, consisting of but 15,000 notes with serial numbers A/K 0000001 through 0015000. The Canadian Bank Note Company printed all of them. After this issue, Laurier disappeared from Canadian currency for some years, the large and extended 1954 (and 1954 Modified) of Elizabeth II using only the Queen's portrait on all denominations. Then in the early ‘70s, the Bank of Canada notes were totally revamped, the first change to appear being that of the Queen on the $20 (release date: 22 June 1970). This was followed a year later by the Macdonald $10 and as of 4 December, 1972 , Laurier on the $5
The issue of 1972 and the issue of 1979 that replaced it are quite similar, the main difference being the modification of the lower back to accommodate the serial numbers, which were moved from the face. The portrait of Laurier, as it first appeared on the Farmers Bank $25 and later the 1935 $20 essai, was modified by Gordon Yorke for these issues. Both issues show a salmon seiner in Johnson Strait , Vancouver Island . Although there are no imprints, both issues of the $5 are by the Canadian Bank Note Company. Although predominantly blue, the face contained rainbow tints to forestall counterfeiting.
Huge numbers of these notes were issued but a few scarcities exist that might be noted: in the 1972 issue are notes with the serial number beginning with RS; a test note, it is quite valuable. The 1979 issue uses figures only for the serial number but those beginning with “33” are test notes with considerable market value.
Replacement notes for the 1972 series have the serial number preceded by a star; those of the 1979 issue have the first two numbers of the all-number serial number a “31”.
April 28, 1986 ushered in the first of the “Bird Series” on the Bank of Canada notes with the release of the new Laurier $5 shown above. The portrait seems to be yet another reworking of that used on the previous two series. The change was made in response to the rising counterfeit problem and this note had many advanced features, including a bar code on the reverse that could be scanned. But the major protection was background pastels that changed from one colour to another while being formed by micro-printing and for the first time, this feature was applied to the back as well. But overall, the denomination remained a “blue” note.
As with the series of 1972, there was a return to a serial number preceded by three letters and although the 1986 series began – and predominantly remained – a contract of the Canadian Bank Note Company, the demise of the $2 note in 1996 caused it to be a “split contract” with the British American Bank Note Company after that date. Although there is no imprint, the CBN used prefix letters E, F and G while the BABN, entering late with the Bonin-Thiessen signatures, used A exclusively.
The year 2002 brought yet another series, this one loaded with anti-counterfeiting devices: micro-printing, pastel changes, holographic maple leaves, designs that are complete only when held to the light so that face and back sections match up, bar codes and even Brail dots to assist the blind.
Still predominantly blue, the Laurier portrait is different and much larger than before. It is probably another reworking of the old portrait as used in 1935 and 1937. The backs are completely redesigned, the $5 honouring Canadian amateur winter sports. This series is in current use. As of the fall of 2006, this denomination will also be upgraded to include the heavy holographic bar on the face.
Above: The Laurier $5 in use until late 2006. Below: The Laurier $5 as introduced Nov. 15, 2006 . From a Bank of Canada handout illustrating the hologram band (1), the Laurier watermark (2), security strip (3) and the "5" partly appearing on each side (4).
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DecemberLaurier and the Canadian Currency The 'Holey Dollars' & 'Dumps' of New South Wales
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