Catalog
1 Dollar
| Issuer | Bank of Canada / Banque du Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1954 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dollar |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in green intaglio, the reverse carries a wide panoramic vignette of the Canadian prairie landscape with a dirt road receding toward the horizon beneath a dramatic cloudscape, telegraph poles lining the track and a grain elevator visible in the far distance. The denomination ONE DOLLAR / UN DOLLAR is inscribed across the top, and BANK OF CANADA – BANQUE DU CANADA across the bottom, both within ornate guilloche borders. The entire design is framed by an elaborate lathe-work border with the numeral 1 repeated in the side panels. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Queen Elizabeth II portrait visible when held to light, embedded in the cotton paper substrate. |
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| Comments |
The 1954 "Devil's Face" controversy is the most documented design incident in Canadian banknote history. Engravers at the British American Bank Note Company worked from a portrait photograph that, when rendered in intaglio, produced shading behind the Queen's hair that many Canadians read as a leering Satanic profile. Public pressure forced a modification to the master die — the corrected version softened the highlighted curl — making the original issue immediately collectible and the two variants a fixture of Canadian numismatic classification.
Four signature combinations span a surprisingly long active life for a single design series, running from Coyne through Rasminsky's governorship and into Bouey's tenure.