I admire the ability of these artisans to take an idea and create something by hand.  Artists and engravers demonstrated skills that are beautiful to look at, and collect.  Of course, modern tools are more a digital variety; however the talent is still necessary.

A few years ago I was able to look at an essay sketch drawn with pencil of The Canadian Bank of Commerce 1917 issue $10 or $20 (cannot remember which one).  This was part of early stage development material leading to the bank notes that we collectors find today.  I’m sure that sketch is unique – as is this Bank of Canada $20 essay.

I have been lucky to obtain many vignettes used on Dominion government notes as well as some early banks in Canada.  It is impressive to see vignettes in different stages of completion.  Engravers sometimes created similar vignettes using the same foreground and changing the background for example.  In others, a small detail would be changed such as a dragon's tail curling right instead of left.

This is a part of our hobby that (thankfully!) doesn’t draw too much attention of $$$.

JBN

Any suggestion of value or grade, as well as the Charlton Number for this note?


Thanks

April 15th finds:

Some penny rolls…and a $1000 bill to go with them.

One of my banks has been holding a $1000 bill for me for a couple of weeks.  I decided to pick it up today, because I want to continue having a good relationship with this branch.

The teller had some penny rolls, and I took them too…but seriously, I really don’t need any more pennies…

I also returned a bunch of rolled coins.  I found a grand total of $2 US, four commemorative quarters, one 2017 dime and one 1968 nickel alloy dime from $135 in rolls.


Enjoy!
Dean

These are very interesting essays and add to our story about Canadian bank note design.  Your images have many elements that we see in the $20 notes that entered circulation in ~1969.

What makes this essay most impressive is that the banknote design is totally hand drawn.

I have added some high resolution images that show the detail more clearly.

Thank you Dean to show me the 2$ BG...prefix you found.

Claude

There is some similarity between the Thomas de la Rue Design X III (see attached) and the Bradbury Wilkinson $20 essay.

In 1903, Bradbury Wilkinson and Company was acquired by the American Bank Note Company.  In 1917, it moved to New Malden in Surrey still operating as Bradbury-Wilkinson as a wholly owned subsidiary of ABNC.  Coincidentally in 1986 Bradbury-Wilkinson was acquired by De La Rue but that was long after the design of the 1969 Bank of Canada $20 note was finalized.

The $20 essay that I posted is from the Estate of Derek Friday.  Mr. Friday was an artist who in the 1950s left the RAF and began as an apprentice in the design department of Bradbury Wilkinson working there for almost 30 years hand drawing and painting the designs for banknotes, share certificates and debentures.

Here is a link to the October 2021 Bank of Canada Currency Museum Blog you mentioned:

https://www.bankofcanadamuseum.ca/2021/10/moving-mountains/

Wow, canada-banknotes!

These are very interesting essays and add to our story about Canadian bank note design.  Your images have many elements that we see in the $20 notes that entered circulation in ~1969.

I recall a blog post on the Bank of Canada Museum’s blog (The Museum Blog) about the competition between printers worldwide to design the $20 multicolour note.  I appreciate the work that our Bank does in providing insight to our bank note history.

The museum blog post on October 21, 2021 focuses on designing the 1969 multicolour issue $20.  It explains how the process began in 1963 with a worldwide competition request for proposals. The blog shows other submissions that were not chosen – what a variety!  Eventually these notes were designed by De La Rue and the image of their “Design X III” shown is fairly similar to your post here on CPMF.

I’m not clear how the connection between design by Bradbury Wilkinson & Company and a proposal by De La Rue occurred.  Any insight would be appreciated.

JBN

April 10th finds:

I was taking a closer look at all of the notes I got from the bank today.

One of the 1979 $5s has “Hi there” written on the back two times and a smiley face.

Additionally, I received a polymer $20 in my regular cash withdrawal that has a partial teller stamp on it that reads: “The Toronto Dominion Bank”.  Unfortunately, it is impossible to determine a transit number from this stamp.

Enjoy!
Dean

April 10th finds part 2:

April 10th finds, part 1:
Jackpot!

Today, the teller at one of my banks sent me a message to come in because she had just received “a lot of old paper notes.”

When I got to the bank, there was over $2000 in old paper currency; mostly multicoloured series notes. 

I bought over $1500 worth of the hoard, which the teller said was brought in by a single individual.  The other notes were in bad condition and were not worth taking.  This was most certainly a collection dump.

Highlights are the 1979 $20 replacement note, the EFA series $50, ALM $1 (too bad it’s signed Crow/Bouey☹️) and the EPW series $5 (too bad it’s signed Thiessen-Crow☹️).

Enjoy!
Dean