2011 — 1935

Canadian Bank Notes

A walk down memory lane — Bank of Canada bank notes, front and back, from 2011 back to the very first issue of 1935.

2011 · The Frontiers Series
2001 · The Canadian Journey Series
1986 · The Birds of Canada Series
1969 · The Scenes of Canada Series
1954 · The Canadian Landscape Series
1937 · The Bilingual Series
1935 · The First Series

Polymer era

2011–2013

The Frontiers Series

Canada's first polymer notes — more resilient and harder to counterfeit. Each denomination celebrates Canadian innovation and achievement.

$5

$5 — front (The Frontiers Series) — Front

$10

$10 — front (The Frontiers Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Frontiers Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Frontiers Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Frontiers Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Frontiers Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Frontiers Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Frontiers Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Frontiers Series) — Back

Paper era

2001–2006

The Canadian Journey Series

The first series designed with public consultation and on computers. Rich with security features never before seen on Canadian notes.

$5

$5 — front (The Canadian Journey Series) — Front

$5 — back (The Canadian Journey Series) — Back

$10

$10 — front (The Canadian Journey Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Canadian Journey Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Canadian Journey Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Canadian Journey Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Canadian Journey Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Canadian Journey Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Canadian Journey Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Canadian Journey Series) — Back

1986–2001

The Birds of Canada Series

Simpler designs that exposed flaws in digitally scanned counterfeits. Metallic, reflective features made their first appearance on Canadian notes.

$2

$2 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$2 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$5

$5 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$5 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$10

$10 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Birds of Canada Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

$1000

$1000 — back (The Birds of Canada Series) — Back

1969–1979

The Scenes of Canada Series

Layered colours and elegant geometric patterns were the key design features as counterfeiters began catching up with earlier security measures.

$1

$1 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$1 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$2

$2 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$2 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$5

$5 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$5 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$10

$10 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Scenes of Canada Series) — Back

1954–1969

The Canadian Landscape Series

A new approach after the accession of Queen Elizabeth II. Portrait engravings by Yousuf Karsh defined this iconic series, often called the 'Devil's Head' series.

$1

$1 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$1 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$2

$2 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$2 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$5

$5 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$5 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$10

$10 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

$1000

$1000 — back (The Canadian Landscape Series) — Back

1937–1954

The Bilingual Series

Prompted by the death of King George V and new legislation requiring bilingual bank notes. All but two notes carry a portrait of King George VI.

$1

$1 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$2

$2 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$5

$5 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$10

$10 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$10 — back (The Bilingual Series) — Back

$20

$20 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$20 — back (The Bilingual Series) — Back

$50

$50 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$50 — back (The Bilingual Series) — Back

$100

$100 — front (The Bilingual Series) — Front

$100 — back (The Bilingual Series) — Back

$1000

$1000 — back (The Bilingual Series) — Back

1935

The First Series

The Bank of Canada's inaugural issue on the day it opened. Seven members of King George V's family appeared across the denominations, with allegorical figures on the reverse.

$1

$2

$5

$10

$20

$25

$50

$100

$500

$1000

Images from the Bank of Canada Museum and the Bank of Canada. The source scans were trimmed and cleaned up with ImageMagick and are optimized for the web by Next.js.

Canadian Bank Notes

Contents

The Frontiers Series

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

The Canadian Journey Series

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

The Birds of Canada Series

$2

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

$1000

The Scenes of Canada Series

$1

$2

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

The Canadian Landscape Series

$1

$2

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

$1000

The Bilingual Series

$1

$2

$5

$10

$20

$50

$100

$1000

The First Series

$1

$2

$5

$10

$20

$25

$50

$100

$500

$1000