Coins1937 Canadian Banknotes, 1937 → 1937 $1 (Gordon-Towers, Narrow Panel) Bank of Canada Note

1937 $1 (Gordon-Towers, Narrow Panel) Bank of Canada Note

Semi-keyBank of Canada
Affiliate links. For key dates, buy certified.

Why this coin matters

In 1938 the Bank widened the signature panel on the $1 by 2.4 millimetres to cure a printing problem, and the Canadian Bank Note Company then destroyed every die, roll and plate used for the original face. The record kept both counts: 10,000,000 narrow-panel notes against 460,000,000 wide - the largest printage figure anywhere in this catalog - which is why both versions hold their own pages here rather than sharing one.

A forty-six-to-one ratio does the pricing arithmetic on its own, and the destroyed tooling closes the question of later printings permanently. The narrow panel is the affordable variety hunt of the series: common enough to find, scarce enough to matter, and identifiable from a decent photograph.

From the editorial file

Measure, do not squint. The difference is 2.4 millimetres in the panel around the signatures, and the reliable tell is comparison against a known wide-panel note side by side. Certified attribution removes the argument for the money grades.

Before you buy: the checklist

  • Panel width decides it. Narrow versus wide is the whole variety. Compare against a confirmed example or buy it attributed in the holder.
  • The wide is the reference. With 460 million printed, a comparison note costs pocket change. Own one as a measuring stick.

Mintage: the 1937 bank of canada note, issue by issue

IssueMintMintage
1937 $1 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa249,568,000
1937 $1 (Gordon-Towers, Narrow Panel) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa10,000,000
1937 $1 (Gordon-Towers, Wide Panel) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa460,000,000
1937 $1 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa50,000,000
1937 $10 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa90,000,000
1937 $10 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa180,000,000
1937 $10 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa6,400,000
1937 $100 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa900,000
1937 $100 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa4,170,000
1937 $100 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa70,000
1937 $1000 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa15,000
1937 $2 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa80,000,000
1937 $2 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa170,000,000
1937 $2 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa20,000,000
1937 $20 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa20,000,000
1937 $20 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa40,000,000
1937 $20 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa1,622,000
1937 $5 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa70,000,000
1937 $5 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa160,000,000
1937 $5 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa8,824,500
1937 $50 (Coyne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa1,100,000
1937 $50 (Gordon-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa4,200,000
1937 $50 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada NoteOttawa100,000

The 1937 in its series

Sources

Mintage figures: United States Mint (Annual Report of the Director of the Mint), Royal Canadian Mint records, and — for the 1935 banknote issue — Bank of Canada printage records as published in the Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money, cross-checked across independent published references. Specifications: United States Mint coin specifications.

The mintage is the only number that never changes. This is where it lives.