1935 $25 Commemorative Note

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I have a 1935 $25 commemorative Canadian Bank Note and I was curious about this interesting, seemingly, very unique bank note. I have read that "Of the total 160,000 $25 notes issued to the public in 1935, only 1,840 were not returned to the Bank of Canada as of 2001. Many of the notes seen from this series tend to be in very rough shape.

Apart from this brief information that I found, I have not really been able to discover just how "rare" these notes are, especially in the estimated EF to AU condition that my note is in. That is, although it is reported that only 1,840 were not returned to the Bank of Canada, how many might even still be in existence.

Any help would be gratefully appreciated as I am so curious about this beautiful currency

The photo is NOT of my bank note but only an image used as reference

Ooops, I apologize - all new to this. Here is the image

These are indeed very scarce notes especially in higher grades and the French variety being the rarest. If the condition of your note is indeed EF-AU it would be worth between $8,000-$10,000. Hope this helps.

As hard as it may be to believe, a surviving population of 1800+ is not small.  Therefore the 1935 $25 notes are not considered rare.  There are plenty of other Canadian notes (types and varieties) with much smaller numbers available to collectors.

We don't know how many of the estimated 1840 notes not accounted for by the Bank are in collector hands.  Some notes have likely been destroyed (by fires, floods, eaten by dogs etc), while others have been lost and may never be found.  Others are tucked away or "hidden", meaning they have yet to reach the collector market.  What makes the 1935 $25 note valuable is its popularity.  Pretty much every collector of Canadian currency (domestically AND internationally) has one or desires one.  That fact alone pushes the value of this type note much higher than many rarer notes.

If your note is high grade, that's good.  You are guaranteed a healthy sum of money if you ever choose to sell it.  If it LOOKS really nice, you could get a lot more.  But having said that, don't try to change your note by cleaning it, pressing it, trimming it, etc.  The savvy buyers, who are the ones with the $$$, know what an altered note looks like.  Buyers who suspect a note is tampered with will avoid it and it will sell for a much lower price.  So don't tamper with your note and don't hire someone to do it either.  Lots of people who monkey around with notes think they are doing a good job, but they really are not.  If you have pictures of your note, I could give you a free assessment.

As hard as it may be to believe, a surviving population of 1800+ is not small.  Therefore the 1935 $25 notes are not considered rare.

Contrary to what mmars thinks, I would agree that these notes are scarce.  And what makes them even scarcer is that this is the only year which the $25 denomination were printed.  Are there notes that were printed which lower quantities are known to exist?  Yes.  I would call those scarce as well.  1800 surviving notes is pretty scarce, and even scarcer would be the notes grading on the higher end.  I would send it to a third party grader such as BCS to get them to give you their opinion.  Would be easier to sell that way if you are unfamiliar with grading.

Its all about availability of a note and condition. A perfect example of this is the *R/C Beattie-Coyne note that had only 8,000 printed. Scarce?? Not exactly as much of these 8,000 notes seemed to have survived and many of them in UNC or better which explains why these notes in GEM are only worth $600 still today.

I would send it to a third party grader such as BCS to get them to give you their opinion.  Would be easier to sell that way if you are unfamiliar with grading

If you want to sell this note I would go with PMG. They will likely grade the note higher, they are know worldwide and you will likely get a better price for the note if sold...

If you want to sell this note I would go with PMG. They will likely grade the note higher, they are know worldwide and you will likely get a better price for the note if sold...

Friedsquid is right.  PMG would likely grade it higher.  For my preferences, I would always prefer to have my notes graded by BCS.  But, either way, it would be worth getting graded as it is a hard find!