Rare bills featured at Bank of Canada auction

ROYAL TRIBUTE: A $25 Canadian bank note from 1935.

   (VANCOUVER SUN) --- Some of the rarest and most intriguing currency in Canadi­an history goes on the auction block Saturday in Toronto.

   With the millennium winding down, the Bank of Canada has decided it's time to clean out its archives.

   About 8,000 bank notes and "specimen" notes are up for grabs, including a $25 bill from 1935, a $500 bill from the same year, and a complete set of 1954 "Devil's Face" currency.

   There is a note bearing the likeness of Queen Elizabeth when she was Princess Eliza­beth, a note with King Edward VIII when he was the Prince of Wales, and "Banque Du Cana­da" notes with all-French text.

   "It's basically a once in a life-time opportunity for collec­tors," said Brian Grant Duff of Vancouver's All Nations Stamp and Coin Shop.

   "It's the first time a central bank has auctioned a portion of their holdings. When similar auctions have happened, like the Christie's American Ban­knote Company archives auc­tion a few years ago, it's been the printers that have sold the material, and not the banks. So it's an unprecedented auction."

   A little history is in order. The Bank of Canada started issuing paper currency in 1935, and took over the entire paper currency market in 1944. Up to that point, individual banks like the Bank of Montreal and the Royal Bank produced their own currency. Just to complicate matters, the federal government produced paper currency for the Province of Canada from 1841 to 1870 and for the Dominion of Canada from 1870 to 1934.

   The notes in the auction are from 1935 to 1979, and each one comes with a story. The 1935 $500 bill, for example, is a "specimen" note, a type that almost never leaves the bank's archives. (The word "speci­men" is printed or punched into the face of the note.)

   "Specimen bank notes are ex­ceedingly rare, because they're printed as examples for banks to use," Grant Duff explained. "Clients of the bank who are trying to understand what a bank note should look like nor­mally get these. They don't nor­mally fall into collectors' hands."

   The 1935 $25 note is the only $25 bill in Bank of Canada his­tory (a specimen is being auc­tioned). It was struck to com­memorate the 25th anniversary of King George V and Queen Mary's ascension to the throne (they're featured on the front).

   The bank printed two sets of notes in 1954, after some imagi­native souls argued that you could see a "devil's face" leering from behind Queen Elizabeth's curls.

   "If you use your imagination, it looks like a little hook nose, or a gargoyle or a demonic face," Grant Duff said. "No one would care today, but back in 1954 there was a tremendous hue and cry about `how dare they put the devil's face in the Queen's hair!' "

   Auctioneer Charles Moore expects about 150-200 bidders to attend the auction at the Four Seasons Hotel in Toronto, and another 500 to place bids by mail, e-mail, the Internet (at http://www.coinuniverse.com) or phone.

   Moore estimates the auction will bring in at least $600,000, but the final tally could be much higher. Five "specimens" of the 1935 $500 bill are estimated at $1,500 apiece. But there are only 46 examples of the 1935 $500 note outstanding, and only 14 are known to still exist. The new Charlton's Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money lists the note at $27,500 for an English copy, and $35,000 for a French one, if they're in "extremely fine" condition.