Scenes of Canada was the fourth series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar issued by the Bank of Canada. It was first circulated in 1970 to succeed the 1954 Series, and was replaced by the Birds of Canada series beginning in 1986.
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Design
The design process for this series began in 1963 with a primary goal of creating banknotes that were more counterfeit-resistant than the 1954 Series it was to replace. The Bank of Canada requested design submissions from security printing companies, receiving several from both domestic and foreign companies. One proposed design was received from Organisation Giori, a Swiss security printer based in Lausanne that had developed a multicolour printing press "that raised the bar on banknote security". Its designs for the $10 and $20 banknotes were a "significant departure" from traditional Canadian banknote designs by incorporating more colours, new graphic elements, and different security features, but the design was rejected. Final conceptual designs were created by Canadian Bank Note Company, British American Bank Note Company, and De La Rue, the latter being the first foreign firm involved in the design of Canadian banknotes. The design by De La Rue was selected by the Bank of Canada in 1964 as the basis for the new series.
Each denomination retained the dominant colour of the respective banknote from the 1954 Series: green for the $1 banknote, orange (terracotta) for the $2 banknote, blue for the $5 banknote, mauve (purple) for the $10 banknote, burnt orange (red) for the $50 banknote, and brown for the $100 banknote. Because of the multicoloured tints used to complement the design for each banknote, Bank of Canada staff began referring to the series as the "multicoloured series".
The portraits on the obverse of each denomination were larger than for the same denomination in the 1954 Series. Initially, all denominations were to feature the portrait of Elizabeth II, but portraits of former prime ministers were used for some denominations at the request of Edgar Benson, the Minister of Finance in 1968, to "reflect Canada's burgeoning national identity". The vertical borders of the obverse were curvilinear, the left edge of which had "multicoloured diamonds" bordering a circular frame within which was the Coat of Arms. It also featured "sweeping guilloché" patterns.
The reverse of each denomination had a scenic vignette. The initial design by De La Rue included a circular watermark that was excluded from the final design. A memorandum circulated to designers during the design process stated that the "subjects chosen represent a substantial improvement in range of contrast and detail", to improve security.
The phrase "will pay to the bearer on demand" that appeared in earlier banknote series was replaced by the phrase "this note is legal tender".
Security
Colourful, wavy patterns were part of each denomination's design. The serial numbers on the obverse were printed in red on the left and blue on the right.
In addition, this is the first series that has interleaving position of English and French text. The interleaving nature is by text on the same side, as well as by denomination. The following table is a complete representation of all positions of English texts on all denominations.
Production
The banknote printers had to buy new equipment to be able to print the banknotes for this series. Originally, the obverse was printed with one intaglio plate and three lithographic plates and the reverse was printed with one intaglio plate and two lithographic plates, except for the $50 banknote, for which an intaglio plate was not used. In 1984, the Bank of Canada changed the printing process used for printing the reverse of each banknote, using only lithography instead of the steel engraving and lithography that had been previously used, and continued to be used for the obverse This resulted in a smoother reverse and "slightly sharper" obverse.
In 1977, the design of the banknotes was modified and the printing process updated to enable automated processing of the banknotes using machines.
Printing
Each printing of the banknote series is signed by the Governor of the Bank of Canada and the deputy governor.
Counterfeiting
Offset printing could not accurately reproduce the range of tints complementing the dominant colour of the banknotes, resulting in a dramatic reduction of counterfeits in circulation. The counterfeit ratio remained very low from 1977 to 1990.
In October 1984, counterfeit $20 banknotes deemed to be of "good quality" were found circulating in Niagara Falls, leading to the confiscation of counterfeit banknotes with a face value of $2.2 million.
In 2007, counterfeit $100 banknotes were found circulating in Regina and Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan. These lacked the fine line details present in the genuine banknotes, and had a different texture. In 2012, counterfeit $50 banknotes were found circulating in parts of Nova Scotia.
Collecting
By 1989, the Bank of Canada had sold over 50,000 uncut sheets of the $1 banknote, each containing 40 notes with sequential serial numbers. It earned over $3 million in revenue from the sale of uncut sheets of the $1 banknote.
Legacy
When first issued into circulation, there were about 370 million banknotes in circulation from the 1954 Series, 1937 Series, and 1935 Series, having a total face value of about $3.4 billion. With the release of the first banknote in June 1970, newspaper articles began referring to the banknote series as "multicolored money" and the "rainbow series", and stating that multicoloured banknotes were returning to Canada since the Bank of Canada had assumed the role as the country's only banknote supplier in 1935. Some retailers did not believe that the $20, the first banknote of the series issued into circulation, was real currency.
Because of wearing from use, the average banknote had a life expectancy of between nine and twelve months before being withdrawn from circulation. In June 1987, the Bank of Canada announced that the $1 banknote would be replaced by the loonie, a $1 coin with a longer lifespan that would reduce production costs for the central bank by about $175 million over 20 years. It expected to cease distribution of the $1 banknote by January 1989, but ultimately delayed the final distribution until 30 June 1989. About 19 million banknote stack wrappers were printed with the words "Be ready for the change! Order and use the new coin now!" in preparation for the change. The Bank of Canada stated that withdrawing most of the 300 million $1 banknotes from circulation would take about three months. The Royal Canadian Mint also increased the number of loonies released into circulation from 1 million in January 1989 to 9.8 million during one week in June. Acceptance of the loonie was initially poor, so banks and retailers continued to conduct transactions using the banknotes. By March 1989, support for the change to the $1 coin was 39% amongst Canadians surveyed by the Royal Canadian Mint, and 36% were opposed to the change.
Withdrawal of the $1 banknote resulted in operational cost reductions for some businesses and organizations, such as the Toronto Transit Commission which previously invested over US$500,000 paying individuals to unfold banknotes collected in fare boxes.
The city of Hull in Quebec purchased the tugboat depicted on the $1 banknote, named Missinaibi, which is now housed behind the Canadian Museum of History beside the Ottawa River.