Specimen $5 Journey Series in Ebay

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

I have not heard of specimens in this series. Are we able to get them in UNC.?

Item # 150135414756

WOW! That is to cool!

I would caution any members who are considering bidding on this specimen note that you risk it being
confiscated by the Bank of Canada.  The Bank of Canada no longer issues specimen notes to financial
instituitions, and as such, this note was either stolen or unlawfully released at the printers or the BoC.

I would not be surprised if eBay pulls this auction listing before it officially ends, as this specimen note
remains the property of the Bank of Canada.

Several year ago Charles Moore had some 1967 proofs, as lots in a Torex auction, and they were pulled
at the request of the Bank of Canada.

If this auction does go to completion, the Bank of Canada could easily collect contact information for the
buyer and seller and confiscate the bank note without reimbursing the buyer for the funds paid to
purchase the note.

...Arthur

I emailed someone at the BOC earlier today regarding this note.
If I hear anything back I will post it

I will contact an analyst  tomorrow from the bank of Canada and give her the heads up on it.    I think this is very suspicious because the speciman notes usually have the printing a little more conspicuously noticable.   Am i incorrect in my evaluation? 

I see some people have offered to buy it now. It does seem to be getting a lot of  interest though. 
 Hmm seems fishy to me.

Cheers

Polarbear

I sent an email to Sylvie Dionne as soon as the listing went up on eBay but her email automatically
replied that she is out of the office until June 28th.  I have left phone messages with the two persons
she left as contacts in her abscence.  My email read as follows:

Attn.: Sylvie Dionne
Bank Note Communication and Compliance Team
Bank of Canada

 
Hello Sylvie,
 
I thought you and the Bank of Canada should be aware of the fact that a specimen of the security upgraded
2006 $5 Jenkins-Dodge bank note, with control number 0213 and serial number AOG0000000, is being offered
for sale on eBay.  The seller of the note is located in Surrey, BC.
 
Here is the link to the auction listing which ends at 4:45 AM EDT on June 28th, 2007.
 
http://cgi.ebay.ca/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=150135414756
 
 
As a collector of Canadian paper money, am I allowed to bid on and own this bank note, or is this considered the
property of the Bank of Canada ?
 
Your feedback on this matter would be greatly appreciated.
 
Best Regards,
 
...Arthur

Very cool...! 

I am very curious as well.

I know that they DO have the Specimens but they will not sell them until the next auction AFTER the next series is released. At least this was my understanding in the usual "Read between the lines" deal with the BoC. 

Response from Bank of Canada to my email:

Arthur,
 
Thank you for your inquiry concerning a specimen $5 bank note being offered for sale on eBay.
 
Whenever a new bank note or series is issued, the Bank of Canada provides other central banks, certain
law enforcement agencies, and various Bank of Canada employees with specimen notes for authentication
and education or training purposes.  Without seeing the specimen note in question, the Bank cannot
comment on its authenticity or prevent this note from being sold on eBay.  Should you bid on this item, you
do so at your own risk, as specimen notes were not intended for circulation.
 
Best regards,
 
Michael Duncan
Bank of Canada
Compliance Program Manager (Currency)
Department of Banking Operations
234 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G9
Telephone:  613 782-7057
Cell:  613 222-9054
Facsimile:  613 782-7533
Email:  mduncan@bankofcanada.ca

I JUST GOT THIS AS WELL

Mike,
 
Thank you for your inquiry concerning a specimen $5 bank note being offered for sale on eBay.
 
The Bank of Canada cannot establish the authenticity of a specimen note without examining it.  However, whenever a new note or series is issued, the Bank does provide other central banks, certain law enforcement agencies, and various Bank of Canada employees with specimen notes for authentication and education or training purposes.  Should you bid on this item, you do so at your own risk, as specimen notes were not intended for circulation.
 
Best regards,
 
Michael Duncan
Bank of Canada
Compliance Program Manager (Currency)
Department of Banking Operations
234 Wellington Street
Ottawa, Ontario K1A 0G9
Telephone:  613 782-7057
Cell:  613 222-9054
Facsimile:  613 782-7533
Email:  mduncan@bankofcanada.ca
 

What a curious item.  As I was reading the forum thread, I figured someone had just printed (letterpress) or color 'xeroxed' the 'specimen' wording, but it's king of difficult to get the AOG0000000 serial number, isn't it.  It would seem that it would be pretty easy to track to a specific bank with the'0213' control nomber.  Does the RCMP get involved?

blumax

fast work guys .  I am still waiting for my response.  Cheers

Polarbear

So... This shows that the BoC DOES keep the specimens.

Somewhere I read that "Officially" they pull the 0 note for destruction during the printing stage...

I look forward to the next Auction to get a few matching serial sets and a couple complete Specimen sets!   

Well.. I think we will be many people to watch the auction closely June 28


I really like this note... 



Patrick

Doh I live next to Surrey mon, I have nuttin to do with dis seller. No no no, Blaaaack magi...many sorries, tinking of wrong note. It could have accidentally fell into production line and dis note may be honestly reported lost at the printers and I tink the BoC doesn't report these publicly like anything else dey did wrong. Whoever, nice find doh.

Be funny...Dei gratia 

PD

I have checked out the note by the auction # in the orig. post.  But when you try to do a search from the main page or in the money section it does not come up anywhere? Very strange, maybe it is just my computer or my ebay account? Has anyone else found it buy doing a search with out knowing the auction #? Like I said maybe it is just me but I would appreciate if some one else would try and let us know. 

Gentlemen:
           Mr. Duncan's reply states that specimen notes were "not intended for circulation,"  which is indeed true;  however, he fails to specify whether or not a specimen note is subject to confiscation.  That $5 has probably never "circulated,"  i.e. passed from hand to hand in ordinary business transactions, and it probably never will;  unless confiscated, it will most  likely sit in this or that private numismatic collection and will never ever be offered to the government for redemption.   I respectfully suggest that it might be worthwhile to use this example to try to elicit from Mr. Duncan a more specific statement of policy, i.e. that such specimen notes will NOT be subject to confiscation (unless, of course, it were for some reason  presented to the Bank for redemption).
                As most of you know, I  myself live in the US and I did own a few US Specimen notes at one time.  In this country there are quite a few Specimen notes held in this or that collection,  and  none of them has ever been confiscated by our Treasury Department.
                                              Bernard Schaaf

Correct me if I am wrong but that note DOES look circulated.... 

I think it has passed through a few hands! 

Correct me if I am wrong but that note DOES look circulated.... 

The seller does state that the note has been circulated

The Bill's Condition:
Although it's seemed to have been circulated a bit, the bill is still in very good to excellent condition.  Its four corners are still in sharp pointy tip, and the centre has no defined crease of hard press folding

I cannot see what all of the fuss is about as there are literally thousands of earlier Bank of Canada Specimen notes on the numismatic market (1935, 1937, 1954, 1967, Multicoloured and Birds issues) and none to my knowledge has ever been confiscated. Far from it, the Bank of Canada itself consigned these Specimen notes to public auction (Moore Numismatic Auctions, Toronto, 1999)!

The only difference in the present case is that the $5 Specimen note in question is a current issue note that may, conceivably, have a dubious provenance. However, I'm sure that in a few years time there will be plenty of the current-issue Specimen notes available on the market. It sometimes pays to be patient ....

In reading between the lines, I do not feel that the Bank of Canada has any intention of interfering with
the sale of the $5 specimen note on eBay.  I do however believe there will be an internal investigation as to
how this note made it ways into public hands.

The Bank of Canada may at some point, auction its surplus of Journey specimen notes, but I would suspect
that such an auction would attract considerable attention and very high sale prices.  I was at both the
1999 and 2000 Bank of Canada auctions in Toronto and neglected to capitalize on the opportunity to purchase
some unique notes.  If you were not one of the lucky few to have attended the 2000 Bank of Canada auction
you can get an excellent feel for the event from this first hand account:

http://www.allnationsstampandcoin.com/newsletters/news6.html

Excerpt from phone call.... (This morning at roughly 9:35 am Edmonton time)

Me: "One more question --  There is a Journey $5 specimen note on eBay right now..."
BoC: "Oh yeah...." (She was aware of the auction)
Me: "If I won that, would there be people in suits knocking at my door later to confiscate it?"
BoC: "No.  However, it can be hard to determine authenticity of a note from an Ebay picture sometimes."  (This was simply a cautionary sidenote she added)
Me: "Good, because I want it. It would look good in my collection.  Thank you very much for the help...."
BoC: "Boy you sure do sound [hot]...."
Me: "I'm coming out East in a few weeks and I am so Excited!"

End Partial Transcript.

Okay, I built a riddle into this:
ONE of the conversation lines did not occur.  But I am not telling  which one. 
 

Huds.....Having spoken with you several times on the phone, I can easily determine which conversation
line did not occur 

...Arthur

Ok huds

The riddle is solved.. 

When does the guys in the suits come and visit you.    Ha Ha

Looking forward to seeing you at CNA.

Cheers

Polarbear

Excerpt from phone call.... (This morning at roughly 9:35 am Edmonton time)


BoC: "No.  However, it can be hard to determine authenticity of a note from an Ebay picture sometimes."  (This was simply a cautionary sidenote she added)
Me: "Good, because I want it. It would look good in my collection.  Thank you very much for the help...."

 

I believe it is dis line dat did not happen mon. I believe to keep dis forum G rated.
I agree with X, dis note went into circulation accidentally. No intention was happening.

Tink happy tots, Dei Gratia

PD

K you got me.  lol   G rated coming up.

Even though I want it, (as a circulated rotator), I think that Ottawa might be right- it pays to be patient sometimes.

Who knows ?

Agreed.

It might be the only one available now but in due time LOTS of UNCIRCULATED ones (Most likely even COMPLETE sets) will be available.

I am VERY content in waiting for an Uncirculated Specimen set worth putting in a collection vs a Ratty Single Specimen because it is the only one around right now.

This is just my feeling! 

This was very subtle, but I know I'm the only one who really picked up on the real conversation. It was not a sentence, nor a word but only one added letter that was changed.

BoC: "Oh yeah...." (SHE was aware of the auction)............
BoC: "Boy you sure do sound sexy...."
Me: "I'm coming out East in a few weeks and I am so Excited!"

So what is my prize Hudson

Way to go Brent. Sure beats my paltry bid of $250. It'll go nice with the other three Specimens.

PD

Thank you. I was surprised I had no competition.

Got the note today. Sure is the real deal. :-)

Right on! 

What was the final price? I missed it...

Of interest here is that the note is lacquered in the same manner as high AOG notes.

Also, the scans don't make it obvious, but the SPECIMEN stamps are actually bilingual... one says "SPECIMEN", the other says "SPÉCIMEN" (note the É). The font of the overprints is also new. It has never before been seen on released specimen notes, although I have seen it in use on a sheet of SPECIMEN-stamped $10 notes at the BoC last summer (private tour).

Other than the serial number and red overprints, there are no discernible differences between this note and any other lacquered 2006 $5 note.

So, now that this lot is sold and the note has a new owner, I am curious to hear (if people care to share) what your thoughts are about the note... Estimated value is an obvious first question, but also about how it got out, why AOG as opposed to AOF, why nobody else bid on it, what your maximum bids would have been, etc.

Maybe I'm way too crazy, but I honestly figured the note would sell for far more than it did.

Thoughts?

I still tink dis note just got mixed up with the regular stuff by accident. I was expecting a teeny bit lower couse it was circulated instead of Unc/Au like most specimens. Of course did first bid $250 at first den decided $325 near da end but too late. 

PD

All I can say is, if you hadn't bid on it, it would have been mine.  I'm not sure I would have noticed the different type font.  Good buy.

blumax

Really kool about the banknote. I just learned of it from reading this. Did anyone ever think maybe the 0000000 (first notes from the series), was used instead as an overprint instead of being distroyed? It wouldnot be haer to layout the Speceimen part and control number on a regular note, and once set up witon tolerance, then use the 0000000 note. Just an idea, with could support the handling marks on the banknote.