What are your thoughts on the final design of 5's and 10's?

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

So what did you think of the design of the 5's and 10's. Did the real notes in hand meet your expectations about the images used for "marketing"?

Although I find the 10 to be the most appealing design based on colour and overall theme I was very disappointed by the green colour on the real thing compared to the one used for "marketing". It was a big let down as I was hoping to see the rich green colour of the front of the train and the evergreens in the vignettes.

The imagery in the 5 makes it the most patriotic of all the polymer notes for me. Other than the standard places where you find Canadian symbols on the banknotes (maple leafs, and Canada) this note has Canada and the Canadian flag plastered all over the arm. I think it would be fun to have people take a guess as to how many times such symbols show up on the arm.

I also like the artists showing 5 stars. I wondered if I should  interpret it as five star representing the 5 of the denomination or five star representing the "best of best" in terms of the scales used for rating things?

On the other hand I wondered if the artist wanted to continue the tradition of the 2 stars on the hockey stick in the journey note to the polymer note and found a good reason to show 5 stars :-)

Wonder what others think about the design? Any first impressions? Lasting impressions?

I just got some new 5$ polymers and I'll be honest it doesn't look like Sir Wilfrid Laurier on the actual note to me at least.  Like with the other polymers the colors don't stand out they feel really pale.  Can't say anything about the 10$ note yet since I didn't get any.  I asked for 5$ at the bank hoping for either M/C paper or new polymers and got the latter but I completely forgot about the 10$ like a dork  .

I like them the most out of all the notes. I think the 5s and 10s are deep and vibrant compared to the dull and drab $50 and $100 notes. The portrait on the $100 is a disaster, but they've gotten better in real life.

I think my favorite is the $10... I like the colour purple... and I like the train... the map of canada...

I like them the most out of all the notes. I think the 5s and 10s are deep and vibrant compared to the dull and drab $50 and $100 notes. The portrait on the $100 is a disaster, but they've gotten better in real life.

Exactly my thoughts. $5 and $10 are definitely most attractive in the series, the colors are rich and bright. $50 is the worst, $20 and $100 not far behind.

Overall I like the polymer series, but I don't like the portraits very much. Laurier looks cross-eyed. Macdonald just doesn't look like him. Borden is far too dark and lacking detail. The Queen is OK, but not as good as on the Journey series. Mackenzie King is the only one whose portrait I like. It's far better than King's Journey Series portrait.

Anyone else see the devil's face on the front of the train on the back of the $10?

Yeah the $50 is definetly the worst.  The $20 is not bad, the green should have been darker.  The $100 is okay; nothing more.

Anyone else see the devil's face on the front of the train on the back of the $10?

Vow fantastic. I can see what you mean. The huge eyes (windshield? with the windshield wipers providing a strange effect), the eerie nose (as in the front of the engine - reminds me of the grinch in the movie), and the devilish teeth (as in the bottom of the engine).

Will have to get this illustrated. I can further imagine how some ink misprint can create very interesting details.

Thx for pointing it out.

I have yet to see a Polymer $5 bill in my hands, but I do have to admit, the $10 bill is not bad, but not the best $10 bill ever existed in Canada (that title goes to the 1971 issue).  But it is nice to see Sir John A. MacDonald's portrait facing to the left for a change (first time since the 1937 issue $100 bill, if I recall), plus MacDonald's hair appears to be a little shorter than in previous issues, and I do admit, the reason why the Polymer $10 bill is not overly the best denomination of all the Polymers issued, is because the shade of purple doesn't stand out as greatly anymore (if I am not mistaken, the background on the front is more of a lavender and not a purple).  But in either event, it really was great to finally see a Polymer $10 bill in my hands, as that was something I was looking forward to for some time (after such a long dry spell for new prefixes).

If I am not mistaken, the Polymer $5 bill may mark the first time in the Bank of Canada's history that Sir Wilfrid Laurier's portrait faced to the left instead of to the right on any banknote that Laurier appeared on (the latter of which it has been since 1935, if I am not mistaken).  I will supply feedback on the Polymer $5 bill when I get one in my hands (I'd say I will likely see at least one in my change before Christmas).

the shade of purple doesn't stand out as greatly anymore (if I am not mistaken, the background on the front is more of a lavender and not a purple).

I agree. I have poor colour vision on the red-green spectrum and I find it very difficult to distinguish between the purple of the $10 and the blue of the $5. It was much easier with all previous BoC issues to tell the $5 and $10 colours apart.

I also remember seeing on an image from back in April (when the new $10 bill was unveiled) that the $10 bill's original image featured a map of Canada that showed where The Canadian traveled.  This morning, before I spent the new $10 bill I got from yesterday's change, I noticed that such map is now behind the image of the train, and of the map of Canada, Newfoundland is the only whole province that is visible, as far as I noticed.  Plus I was wondering why there was no route showing in Newfoundland, so I did research after the April 30th unveiling, and I learned that the island portion discontinued its railway in 1988 (25 years ago this month, in fact).

Since I cannot edit my previous post, I thought I'd ask something on here.  Regarding the map of Canada being placed behind the image of the train, I wonder if the Bank of Canada used a program such as PowerPoint to send the image of the map with the train route behind the actual image of the locomotive?  Maybe the original design intended to show the map, but when the bills were finally printed, the image was sent behind the train, or repositioned.  I can see that being a possibility.

That Sir Wilfrid Laurier's portrait faced to the left instead of to the right.

Thx for your insight. Nice observations.

The portrait facing on the right in the $5 journey series I thought did a significant disservice from a design point of view. Whenever the printing of intaglio was closer to the west block image (due to tolerances in printing registration) the front of Sir Wilfred Laurier's nose would get a yellow tint. This happened more on the $5 note rather than any other because I think the tip of the nose formed the leading edge of the image.

It looked like some sun block on the nose. I know that there are printing considerations to be taken into account in the design of notes but certainly the BoC could have done better.

I must be in the minority, because I like the notes.  I thought the engraving of Laurier might be a little dodgy, based on the photoshopped images of the notes on the Bank of Canada's website, but the actual engraving I like. Beats the heck out of the 'Spock' version of Laurier that's on the Birds 5s.

The backs I like, but do admit that Canadarm and Dextre might not be household names, but when the announcement of the notes mentioned Canadarm and Dextre, I was googling to find out about Dextre (I kinda knew what Canadarm was...). And considering that the design has to fit into basically 2/3s of the back, it's a good vignette.

I still have to get the new 10s, the bank didn't have any.

John

The polymer series has been a big disappointment for me up till now.  I feel similar to CA_Banknotes- in that these 2 denominations impress me most. 
IMO:
I really like the different angle on each PM's portrait and the fact that the engravers chose images that possibly reflect a more realistic likeness of what they may have appeared to be in their prime.  Birds & Journey images of the men's portraits are more profiled, in their later years, and leaders' expressions that are serious.  These portraits are less of a profile and the men appear content/almost happy. Just as the queen is reflected more realistically in terms of age- the men seem to be portrayed in a more realistic vein.
The back designs are ingenious too.  It is refreshing to see a note that reflects now in the $5 (with Space theme) but the $10 back design is a nod to our past railway link across Canada.  I'm still not crazy on the fonts and the colours but the $10 purple is more like a lavendar and stands out nicely.