Canadian Banknotes - 1935 Series
The Bank of Canada was created in 1934 and given responsibility, through an Act of Parliament, to regulate the country's money supply and to "promote the economic and financial welfare of Canada." Accordingly, it was given the exclusive right to issue bank notes in Canada. On 11 March 1935, the Bank of Canada issued its first series of bank notes.
The first bank notes were unilingual. All denominations were available in either English or French. The designs were identical, differing only in the language used. The front of the notes featured a portrait of a member of the royal family or of a former Canadian prime minister. Allegorical figures alluding to Canada's growing agricultural, industrial, and commercial prosperity appeared on the back of each note.
Unique to the 1935 series were:
- • a $25 note, issued to commemorate the silver jubilee of King George V
- • a $500 note, a carry-over from Dominion of Canada bank notes.
This is the only Bank of Canada series that includes $25 and $500 bank notes.
$1 Agriculture allegory
Issue Date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: King George V
$2 Transportation allegory
Issue date: 19 July 1937
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: King George VI
$5 Electric power allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Edward, Prince of Wales
$10 Harvest allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Princess Mary
$20 Agriculture allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Princess Elizabeth
$25 Windsor Castle
Issue date: 6 May 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: King George V and Queen Mary
$50 Modern inventions allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Prince Albert, Duke of York
$100 Commerce and industry allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester
$500 Fertility allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Sir John A. Macdonald
$1000 Security allegory
Issue date: 11 March 1935
Size: 152.4 x 73.025 mm (6.0 x 2.875 inches)
Portrait: Sir Wilfrid Laurier
Source: Bank of Canada