What is your favourite Journey note (so far)?

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Hi, it's me.

Now, I know that there are two more remaining denominations to complete the Journey series before the year is out, but does anybody on the forum have a "favourite" Journey note?  The $5?  The $10?  Or the $100?  

Or should I wait until the Journey series is complete?

If you like any one of the first three notes released, please share your thoughts with us.

Thanks , Jonathan

The $5 for me.

I totally agree with you too, Marc.

The $5 Journey note is the most attractive note in the series, so far.  I just happen to like the blue colour throughout the note, the images of children playing hockey outdoors (since Hockey is Canada's favourite sport - go Leafs go!), the more "modern" portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier (unlike the 1986 series, where Laurier looks more like a cartoon character.  Did you know that some people make the 1986 Laurier look like Mr. Spock from Star Trek?), and it is such a "beaute" of a Journey note.  The tens are kind of boring, and the $100's?  Well, they are kind of boring - all you can see is a map of Canada, but no people (other than Borden)!

But, like I said - there are still two more denominations left to be released, so we still might have a new favourite by the time the $20 and the $50 comes out.

Keep up the good work, BoC!

Later, Jonathan

I'd vote for the $5 right now... but in all of the series since 1935 the $50 notes have been strong favorites of mine, so I suspect the Journey $50 will be a hit with me if the orange colour is retained.  My all time favorite notes are the 1954 series predominantly the $2, $5, $10 and $50.  My alltime least favorite note is the 1969 and 1979 $20's - they are boring....  and eventhough I am big on collecting asterisks,  the 5 1969 $20 asterisks in my collection are all VF-EF ..... I can't get excitied enough about them to spend the money for UNCs.

......   >:(which brings about a gripe  - - -   why are the 1969 $20 asterisks priced so highly in the catalogue?  For most combinations there were 120000 to 480000 printed, and prices range from $300 to $600 in UNC.  Compare this to a 1954 Beattie Coyne Asterisk *R/C with only 8000 printed lists for $400 in UNC???  

My favorite is the $50 because it hasn't been issued yet  

why are the 1969 $20 asterisks priced so highly in the catalogue?  For most combinations there were 120000 to 480000 printed, and prices range from $300 to $600 in UNC.  Compare this to a 1954 Beattie Coyne Asterisk *R/C with only 8000 printed lists for $400 in UNC  

Because contributors to the catalogue own a lot of $20 asterisk notes??  

Supply and demand is probably the answer.  There are so few *R/C notes, nobody wants them.  Makes perfect sense to me (not).

My personal favourite note since the BoC's inception is the 1975 Multicoloured $50 note.  They are not really hard to find, even though the 1988 $50's have dominated over the past ten years.

But, when the new Journey $50 get issued this fall, chances are that it may be my new favourite Journey note - so far, like I said in my post, I like the $5 better.

I certainly hope the new $50 will be more red than orange!

It will be kind of (way) cool.

Bye 4 now ,
Jonathan

Because contributors to the catalogue own a lot of $20 asterisk notes??  

I am a contributor to the Charlton Government Paper Money Guide and certainly don't price that way.  Since I actively collect and spend much of my time at coin shows, noticing what is available and what isn't, over many years.  If I do not have a certain prefix or find one to be very rare, I try to get the price up on it in the new book.  This I am hoping will bring a few out into the market place and may be able to get one.   Much of my time is devoted to noticing what is rare or tough and what is more common or very common.  Prices submitted by me, (I don't know about others) reflect how common a note is or isn't.  If there are contributors out there who submit high values for notes that they own many of, well this would be cheating the market.  Now this isn't to say that if someone had tucked away at the time of issue 10 sequential L&B EET's and submitted a high value, well regardless it is a tough note and they just happened to get lucky.  

Tom :-/

An observation:

Jonathon mentions "the more "modern" portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier" on the Journey $5.  Has anyone else noticed that this "modern" potrait is really just an enlarged version of the portrait used on the 1935 and 1937 $1000's?  Have a look, you may be surprised!

So true, JoeF.  Very modern, unlike the portrait on the Birds $5's where Laurier looked more like a cartoon character...

By the way, my name is Jonathan, not Jonathon - I don't want to be confused with telethon or marathon

Later,
Jonathan

P.S.  A lot of people misspell my name a number of times!

I am a contributor to the Charlton Government Paper Money Guide and certainly don't price that way.  Since I actively collect and spend much of my time at coin shows, noticing what is available and what isn't, over many years.  If I do not have a certain prefix or find one to be very rare, I try to get the price up on it in the new book.

Sounds like I struck a nerve there.  Sorry.  Don't worry, I know quite well how the catalogue values work.  Low supply often doesn't translate into high price.  Collectors often give up looking for things that exist only marginally, hence the ubiquitously low prices for beattie-Coyne asterisk notes in all grades.  That will take a long time to change.  As eyevet quite correctly pointed out, the 1969 $20 asterisk notes mostly have high numbers of notes printed, so there are quite a few out there for collectors to chase after.  And we all know how lower grade notes get dragged up in value in catalogue because the uncirculated examples keep reaching new highs.  Call me a cynic, but I know it would draw a lot of questions if a VF commanded only face value and an unc commanded $500.  Hence the nice smooth price slope...

Now that the Journey series is complete, my favourite Journey note is the $20.  I like the artwork on the back of the note, the "Bill Reid 1920-1998" in memoriam, and the vibrant forest-green colour.  It is nice to have a true, genuine piece of Canadian history in our wallets.

Good job, Bank of Canada!

     - Cathy -