Canadian Currency Collection Price Guide

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I just noticed a listing on E-bay for this new price guide for Canadian notes. I was just wondering if anyone knows anything about it? Apparently it includes Journey notes.

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For journey notes, it does not indiviadually list some prefixes. eg, BEK is listed separately with catalog values well below market values while BEL is not listed separately at all.

I received my copy of this catalogue today. Although it's described as the 3rd edition it is in fact the first edition devoted solely to paper money (previous editions included coins as well).  I purchased it from the author on eBay and it cost me US$29.95 plus $6.00 shipping as a "Buy it Now". It contains 227 pages in total. It was not quite what I expected as it's in a smaller format than I anticipated (8 inches x 5.3 inches) and there are no illustrations of notes at all. It's basically a tabulation of values of Chartered notes, Government (Dominion) notes, and Bank of Canada notes.

The Chartered section comprises 109 pages and it basically covers the same material as the Charlton catalogue but arranged in a rather different format. The Government section comprises 22 pages and again covers the same material as the Charlton catalogue but in a rather different format.

The Bank of Canada section comprises 60 pages and contains a vast number of entries including Ladder notes, Radar notes and the like. The format is completely different from the Charlton catalogue. The nomenclature used appears to be very complicated at first but with some experience one gets used to it.

It's always easy to criticize a new venture such as this one. For example, no prices are suggested for Bank of Vancouver notes, there are many price variances vis-à-vis the Charlton catalogues, and the $5 1986 Yellow Back Plate ENX Replacement note is not listed although the corresponding Blue Back Plate ENX note is there. However, this is clearly a "labour of love" on the author's part and a huge amount of work has gone into its preparation. I personally feel that initiatives of this nature should be supported as it's important to provide encouragement to authors of specialized works such as this.  From my own perspective, there is more than enough information in this catalogue to justify the price although further refinement will be needed for the 4th edition.



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Here's another page.

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And here's a typical page from the Chartered section.

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It seems ebay and auction records have been the primary source for the prices in this book which seem to be more a reflection of market values. In this book however, they have stated that ebay and auction prices would be at 65% of the book value. So if the average selling price on ebay or at a major auction were $100, the catalog value would be $150. Prices on scarcer notes seem to be higher than the Charlton catalog. Maybe it is because they are marked up by 50% to reflect a discounted selling price on ebay or at auction while bidders may just bid Charlton catalog price.

I forgot to mention in my earlier post that there's a really excellent section entitled "Grading Bank Notes" in this book. The author makes a convincing argument for the adoption of a numerical grading scale.  This section starts out with the obvious but profound comment:

"Today, it seems that grading bank notes is where grading coins was about 20 or so years ago. Back then, reliance on professional certification services for grading coins was just starting".

The author then goes on to express a view we have heard before:

" ... now is a good time to search out and acquire good quality bank notes, such as those that are usually traded as AU+ or AU++, since many of these AU notes will likely receive better grades in the future".

I personally feel comfortable assigning numerical grades myself without actually having to send a note away to a certification service (I have 35 years of experience grading paper money and identifying processed/doctored notes). However, I realize that if I am selling an expensive note then the buyer wants to see an official certificate and not just take my word for it.

The author lists three grades of Crisp Unc (CU65-Gem, CU63-Choice & CU60), three grades of AU (AU58, AU55 & AU50), two grades of EF, and so on. A CU65 note is absolutely free of all defects and blemishes --- "Such a note appears perfect, but has normal centering". A CU63 is permitted to have up to two minor blemishes, while a CU60 can have up to four.

There is also a very interesting section covering Replacement Notes & Insert Notes, and Notes with Special Serial Numbers, and there is a very useful table indicating the numbers of Radars, Ladders, Solids, etc. that were printed for every 10 million notes. I've attached the List of Contents below.

I'm beginning to realize that it's well worth buying this book just for the 23-page Introduction section alone !!!





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Just like to tip my hat off to the contributers of this thread (and naturally the author-- Michael K Blais) for informing us about this new paper money guide.  I haven't got my copy yet, but I'm sure interested in purchasing one soon.  I always read most of my Charlton, so I would naturally find the intro (& any other tidbits of info) in this guide most useful.  As  far as the comments regarding the various degrees of CU 65/63/60 -- its something I've been saying for the last 3 years, and I'm happy to see others adopt this view.  

I'm not surprised that the info on the $10 Journey is out of date.  Guides like these are compiled a long time before they're published so there's almost always a lag in up-to-date info.  

I think the $10 Journey is so popular for more reasons than just the anomalies in its release.  The CU numerical system is almost necessary when judging the quality of this issue, which was released in such varying degrees of condition (with so many ripples, and other paper irregularities).

The tables appear to be in a completely different format (as mentioned).  Are they simply one denomination, rather than by series? In some of the images posted it appears as if they're a bit more in-depth than Charlton.  Is that the case, or am I reading into it? I cannot really see the prices but they do appear conservative.  Probably more like the least amount you should expect.

At any rate, its very encouraging to see that the hobby has grown to this extent, and I hope to see more (info on Cdn paper money) published.  

I always read most of my Charlton, so I would naturally find the intro (& any other tidbits of info) in this guide most useful.  As  far as the comments regarding the various degrees of CU 65/63/60 -- it's something I've been saying for the last 3 years, and I'm happy to see others adopt this view.  

The tables appear to be in a completely different format (as mentioned).  Are they simply one denomination, rather than by series? In some of the images posted it appears as if they're a bit more in-depth than Charlton.  Is that the case, or am I reading into it?

At any rate, its very encouraging to see that the hobby has grown to this extent .......

I've attached a more detailed scan to show the format used for Bank of Canada issues. Although the book defines three grades of Unc (65, 63 & 60), the listings are for 61 (1935 & 1937 issues) and 61 & 64 for the 1954 and later issues. Perhaps this is wise as true 65 notes are rare, especially for the earlier issues.

In both the Dominion of Canada and Bank of Canada sections the notes are listed first by denomination ($1, $2, $5, ...), then by date of issue/series (1935, 1937, 1954, Multicoloured, etc.), and then in most cases by Prefix.  There is a huge amount of data in this book for the Bank of Canada issues and that is a testament to the popularity of this material.  

It's interesting that the author does not use the term "Devil's Face" in the book (at least I didn't see it). Instead of using the widely accepted terms "Devils' Face" and "Modified" he uses "Regular" and "Modified".

The Introduction contains interesting and useful information on the rapid development of the hobby in recent years but I didn't see any discussion about processed/doctored notes, etc.

The information in the Introduction and the catalogue listings seem to be aimed more towards Bank of Canada collectors than to Dominion of Canada and Chartered note collectors. That is understandable in view of the immense popularity of the Bank of Canada series and their numerous varieties. Moreover, this book is evidently aimed towards fairly advanced collectors as there are no illustrations of the notes themselves (novice collectors would find it very difficult to use this book). However, it's very handy to have everything in one single compact volume when one is out on the road.





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I was just browsing the web site, and noticed that they also have a collectors software available as well.   http://www.brookstonepublishing.com/

In viewing the tables you've posted (with my trusty magnifying glass) I cannot quite understand why the author would repeatedly post the same FDT-FDW prefix combination (for the Journey series) and then some kind of code under what appears as either NV or an MV inbetween the prefix and printage columns.  Seeing the vast price variations these must be referring to replacements, yet they seem to be designated (under the MV or NV) as some kind of strange code.  Is this the case? Are the codes on a different page?  I'm surprised that there would be this kind of generic nonmenclature along with a coded system. Seems a bit awkward to me.

The V refers to variety ie B=business (ie issued banknote), P=proof, S=specimen, etc..
The N refers to special serial number (N1=single digit low serial number, N2=2 digit low serial number, N3=3 digit low serial number,
L5=5 digit partial ladder (eg 1234529), L6= 6 digit partial ladder (eg 2345674), L7 = 7 digit ladder (full ladder),
R1, R2, R3, R4 are 1-, 2-, 3-, and 4-digit radars
C4, C5, C6 are 4- 5- and 6-digit consecutives eg 3333385

These actually privide valuations for collectibles that we guess on eg partial ladders and notes with 5 or 6 identical digits that have some premium

The new codification is interesting.  It may give a renewed interest in special numbers (eg partial ladders) though I think some of the pricing on these seems a bit overly optimistic.  So what is the code for insert replacements, missing circles (or BPN), errors, and other (eg signature change-over prefixes vs year change-overs)?

The guide looks very interesting but the jury is out still deliberating.

Thanks in advance.  

X=replacement, I-insert, BPN or no BPN is labelled as such. Signature varieties for changeover prefixes are labelled separately. I see no pricing on errors.

Regarding the catalog values, the way these have been derived is to assume that ebay or auction items sell at 65% of these catalog prices so the catalog value would be inflated to 150% of what notes sell for on ebay or at major auctions. The prices for dealers are 90-110% of catalog so likely these prices shown are prices you expect to pay a dealer.  So if people are paying Charlton catalog prices on ebay, these prices will be 50% more than Charlton.

I could find no mention of whether these prices are in C$ or US$ as the book was published in the US.