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

1937 $1 (Osborne-Towers) Bank of Canada Note

Bank of Canada
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Why this coin matters

The 1937 series exists because of thirteen months that rearranged everything: legislation requiring bilingual notes, the death of George V in January 1936, and the abdication of Edward VIII before year's end. The Bank answered all three at once - a single note for both languages, English on the left of the portrait and French on the right, with the new King George VI moved to the centre of the note to make the arrangement work. The dual English-and-French printings of 1935 were dead within two years of birth.

The Osborne dollar is the affordable front row seat to that change: fifty million printed, so an honest mid-grade example costs little, and it carries the first signature pair of the first bilingual series. It also introduced the modern serial number - unique per note, with the two-letter fraction prefix - retiring the sheet-and-check-letter system of 1935.

From the editorial file

The best value in the series is history per dollar, and the Osborne $1 wins it: the earliest form of the note every later Canadian note descends from, at common-note money.

Before you buy: the checklist

  • Osborne left, Towers right. The early pairing at the entry price. Confirm the signature before paying any premium over a Coyne.

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.