1986 $5 Luminus test note - confirmed serial number ranges

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I received this email from the Bank of Canada today. What are the chances that any more of these are out there? Do you have one in your collection?

Good day,

This is in response to your email in which you are requesting the serial numbers of the 100,000 Birds of Canada $5 Luminus note trial.

As mentioned in the Autumn 2007 issue of the Bank of Canada Review (page 50), the Bank conducted a circulation trial of Luminus substrate.

Between 1995 and 1998, Luminus was tested in active circulation with 100,000 Birds of Canada $5 notes.  However, this material was not used on Canadian Journey series bank notes as technical issues with the production of Luminus, as well as questions about its market potential, led the owner of the technology to withdraw its offer to supply the product in December 1999.

The serial number range assigned for the circulation trial was GOG 0100000 to GOG 0199999. 

Additional information related to Luminus and the trial is confidential.

I hope this information is helpful and thank you for your interest in Canadian currency.

Regards,

Carol Ann Levett
Client Service Representative
Bank Note Communication Team
Bank of Canada
1-888-513-8212

I checked mine.  Not even close! Any guess as to what these bills would be valued at?

Nobody knows yet...I believe this knowledge is only getting out now.

I wonder if any survive at all.

Look here, the Patent

http://www.trademarkia.com/luminus-74504552.html

Nobody knows yet...I believe this knowledge is only getting out now.

I wonder if any survive at all.

Probably very few, if any have survived. Back in 1995 who ever knew that this GOG prefix in that range would have been a test note!! Its doubtfull any collector will find one.

It is also possible that these Luminus test notes were released in a small community to limit the circulation to a particular area. This will make the likelihood of them being in collectors hands even smaller.

I have one of those $5 notes with Luminus substrate GOGO125297 and of "circulated " condition. Any thoughts on how I might get an estimate of its current value?

I have one of those $5 notes with Luminus substrate GOGO125297 and of "circulated " condition. Any thoughts on how I might get an estimate of its current value?

Can you post a high-resolution scan of the note?

How do I post such a image?
Clyde

How do I post such a image?
Clyde

Just sent you a PM with my email, send me the image and I'll upload it for you. Thanks.

Thanks but I'd rather do it.... one reason being that future questions may ask for more or different images and I'd like to do so without relying on a third party. Many thanks for the offer.
Clyde

The range is now listed in the 25th edition. "Market value not yet established". It will be very interesting to see how many of these notes will surface and at what price they will sell for. Perhaps we could start a registry for this prefix.

I have one of those $5 notes with Luminus substrate GOGO125297 and of "circulated " condition. Any thoughts on how I might get an estimate of its current value?

I was going through some older posts and noticed that the GOG prefix note reported recently looks like the 2nd of its kind. Wonder if the person who indicated the presence of the previous note sold it?

Also it is interesting that the presence of such notes was publicly knows as far back as 2007 but it appears that it became know to the wider collector community only in 2012. Five years for public knowledge to be widely known in a specialist field? Am I missing something here?

Last one sold for $20,000-4K fee.
http://www.icollector.com/1986-Bank-of-Canada-5-Test-Note_i16141696

Checking mine, now, although the more found the less it'll be worth, heh.

The range is now listed in the 25th edition. "Market value not yet established". It will be very interesting to see how many of these notes will surface and at what price they will sell for. Perhaps we could start a registry for this prefix.

Let us know how many you find.

Also it is interesting that the presence of such notes was publicly knows as far back as 2007 but it appears that it became know to the wider collector community only in 2012. Five years for public knowledge to be widely known in a specialist field? Am I missing something here?

I think we all missed something. I first noticed the reference in the Bank of Canada Review to those notes in about 2009 or so. I started a thread asking about it and nobody seemed to know anything. At some point the thread was deleted. In December 2011 I wrote to the BoC myself asking for info, and they responded a month later (posted at the top of the thread.)

It makes me wonder what other juicy info is out there hiding in plain sight, waiting for one of us to stumble across it.

It makes me wonder what other juicy info is out there hiding in plain sight, waiting for one of us to stumble across it.

I sometimes wonder if the focus of the vast majority of the community on the "numbers" aspect of banknotes precludes us from not seeing other things that might be in plain sight.