What's On This $100?

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I was sorting through a few $100 notes this morning when this one caught my eye. On the upper left corner on the reverse of the note, there is a shiny coating. It follows the contours of the design and appears to be to be a glossy finish to that part of the note but isn't on any other notes that I went through.

I tried to take a number of pics to show what it looks like. Any ideas as to what it's purpose is or what it might be?

That's essentially a lacquer or similar coating. You can find it on all denominations of Journey notes in the same places and with the same sawtooth edges.

Why it was only selectively applied, I'm not sure.

Interesting. All the other $100's (five of them) looked like normal notes, this was the only one like this.

I examined a number of notes this morning and all have the same effect. This particular $100 just had a heavier layer. Nothing special.

My understanding is that this lacquer is added to the notes to strengthen the area around the tactile device for the visually impaired, so that it lasts longer in circulation. 

As to why it's shinier on the $100 than on the other denominations, it's anyone's guess.