Canada 150 bills a neat gift idea
This holiday season, why not give your loved ones the gift of a wallet-sized piece of history to mark an important Canadian milestone?
In June this year, the Bank of Canada, which produces Canada’s bank notes, issued a limited-supply $10 note celebrating the 150th anniversary of Confederation, with a distinctive design depicting the country’s history, land and culture.
The Canada 150 note came into circulation officially on June 1 and is only the fourth commemorative note issued by the bank in its 82-year history.
A series of successful events across the country were held over the spring and summer to introduce the note to Canadians.
For the first time, four individuals are portrayed on the front of a Canadian bank note—Sir John A. Macdonald, Sir George-Étienne Cartier, Agnes Macphail and James Gladstone, or Akay-na-muka (his Blackfoot name).
These notable parliamentarians were celebrated at places of significance to each of them, at recognition events in places like Owen Sound, Ontario and Stand Off, Alberta.
Other celebrations were also held in each major region of the country—the West Coast, the Prairie provinces, Central Canada, the Atlantic provinces and the North—the five different landscapes depicted on the back of the note.
And Canadians told the bank they liked what they saw.
This note represents several firsts for a Bank of Canada note, including the first time that a portrait of a Canadian woman is shown on one of our notes and the first time that an Indigenous Canadian appears as a portrait subject.
As with all Canadian bank notes, security is paramount in the design of the Canada 150 note.
The note has several security features—some new and others that are similar to the features on the current series of polymer notes.
The bank has issued 40 million of these notes in total, about one for each Canadian, and worked with financial institutions to make them available to Canadians.
While commemorative notes such as the Canada 150 note can be used for payment, just like all other notes issued by the bank, some Canadians may choose to preserve the bills as small pieces of history.
Either way, the Canada 150 note will be an important reminder for Canadians of our country’s sesquicentennial year.
If you’re interested in giving this historical memento, or getting one for yourself, keep an eye on the change in your cash transactions, or check with your local bank or credit union.
And late next year will bring another historic first: as announced in December 2016, the next new regularly circulating $10 bank note is coming.
It will feature the portrait of Viola Desmond, a champion for social justice and iconic Canadian.
She will be the first Canadian woman to be portrayed on a regularly circulating Bank of Canada bank note. This guest column was submitted to The Herald by the Bank of Canada.