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The 1935 Series was the first series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar issued by the Bank of Canada. They were first circulated on 11 March 1935, the same day that the Bank of Canada officially started operating. Two sets of banknotes were printed for each denomination, one in French for Quebec, and one in English for the rest of Canada. This is the only series issued by the Bank of Canada with dual unilingual banknotes.
Contents
The Bank of Canada issued a press release in February 1935 announcing details of the banknotes to "prevent possible confusion" amongst the public and as a protective measure against counterfeiting. The Bank of Canada Act which had established the Bank of Canada also resulted in the repeal of the Finance Act and the Dominion Notes Act. With the introduction of the 1935 Series into circulation, the Dominion of Canada banknotes were withdrawn from circulation by the Bank of Canada from 1935 to 1950, which also replaced the Department of Finance as the nation's exclusive issuer of banknotes.
Printing
All printings of each denomination of the banknote series were signed by Graham Towers, the Governor of the Bank of Canada, and J.A.C. Osborne, the deputy governor. The English banknotes had serial numbers starting with the letter A, and the French banknotes had serial numbers starting with the letter F.
The Canadian Bank Note Company printed the $1 (series A and F), $20 (series A and F), $50 (series A and F), $100 (series A and F), $500 (series A and F), and $1000 (series A and F) banknotes, and the commemorative $25 banknote. The British American Bank Note Company printed the $2 (series A and F), $5 (series A and F), and $10 (series A and F) banknotes.
Collecting
As of 2009, for a banknote graded as "very fine" a collector could expect to pay about US$1,600 for the commemorative $25 banknote, US$1,150 for the $50 banknote, US$750 for the $20 banknote, US$150 for the $10 banknote, and US$50 for the $1 banknote.