Catalog
20 Dollars
| Issuer | Banque du Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1935 |
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| Printer | Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited |
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| Obverse description | The French-language face of this 1935 issue presents a central oval intaglio vignette of Princess Elizabeth as a young girl, set within an ornate lathe-work border on the left. The denomination numeral '20' appears in each corner alongside the word 'VINGT' in vertical lettering along both lateral margins, while 'BANQUE DU CANADA' arches across the top in bold lettering above 'PAIERA AU PORTEUR SUR DEMANDE'. The serial number, 'OTTAWA', and 'EMISSION DE 1935' are printed across the centre field, with two manuscript signatures of the Sous-Gouverneur and Gouverneur running below the large guilloche-framed '20' centrepiece and the legend 'VINGT DOLLARS'. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a deep carmine-red intaglio and centres on a large allegorical vignette in which a classically robed female figure presents a torch or implement to a seated male figure amid a pastoral landscape of trees and foliage, symbolising agriculture and industry. The arc inscription 'BANQUE DU CANADA' crowns the composition at the top, flanked on each side by the numeral '20' set within guilloche rosettes and maple-leaf ornamental panels. The denomination 'VINGT DOLLARS' is rendered in bold lettering along the lower margin, with the printer's imprint 'CANADIAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, LIMITED' in small text below. |
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The 1935 Canadian series was the first issued by the newly established Bank of Canada, which had opened for business on March 11 of that year after years of political debate over whether Canada needed a central bank at all. The Great Depression settled the argument. Two distinct versions of each denomination were printed simultaneously — one in English, one in French — making the 1935 series unique in Canadian banknote history; no subsequent series maintained fully bilingual parallel issues at every denomination level.
G.F. Towers was the Bank's first Governor, Osborne its first Deputy. The Canadian Bank Note Company engraved and printed the entire series from its Ottawa plant.