Canadian Banknotes of 1935 Trivia Quiz

Answer: King George V

Were you Victorious? In World War II the V for victory symbol was used extensively by the Allies. OK, seeing King George died in 1936, and the V in his name means 'five' it wasn't such a great hint... King George V reigned from 1910 - 1936. He was not in the best of health in later years, with lung problems.

The face of the one dollar note is black with a green tint. The back of this note and all other notes of the 1935 series is highly detailed, with the same allegorical theme on them continuing into the 1937 issue although they were switched around on a few notes.

The 1935 one dollar note has a green background with an agriculture theme. It shows a seated female at a table with farming tools, vegetables, and produce around her. I couldn't resist putting 'Boy George' in the answers (and if you don't know who he is, I'm way to old for this...).

Answer: Mercury

The transportation allegory ("allegory" means, according to the trusty Webster dictionary: 'the expression by means of symbolic fictional figures and actions of truths or generalizations about human existence; also : an instance (as in a story or painting) of such expression') on the back of this note is in blue and shows Mercury (Roman god of trade, travel and messages), standing in the middle of the note, with wings on his helmet and feet, carrying his caduceus. Along with the ships, trains and planes on this design, he represents speed and travel. The face of the note is black with a blue tint.

It features Queen Mary in the portrait.

Answer: Wallis Simpson

King Edward VIII gave it all up for the love of Wallis Simpson. He (and others) thought the resulting scandal would not reflect well on the Royal family or Britain, so he resigned as king. They married and Edward became Duke of Windsor and she became Duchess of Windsor. Before World War II they visited Germany and visited personally with Adolf Hitler. Edward thought old Adolf was a 'nice chap' and returned Nazi salutes during his visit.

Many suspected them of being Nazi sympathizers during World War II. Edward died at 77 in 1972, Wallis passed away in 1986. Need more after that? OK! The face of the note is black with an orange tint and the back is orange, featuring a seated naked looking male with symbols of electricity around him, such as the hydro electric dam and lake behind him. Maybe he just had a swim in the dam, and that's why he has no clothes on?

Answer: purple

Purple would be the colour of the ten dollar note, including the 1937 and 1954 series, up to the 1969-1975 issue when the bank started using multicoloured tints to reduce counterfeiting (the ten dollar note changed in 1971). The current issue (2004 note) is still mostly purple but does have other colours in it, such as the red poppies on the back.

The face of the 1935 note is black with a purple tint, and features Princess Mary on it. On the back, in purple, is a harvest vignette, with a seated female surrounded by vegetables and fruits.

Answer: Princess Elizabeth

The young child was Princess Elizabeth who would later become Queen Elizabeth II, upon the death of her father King George VI in 1952. The face of the note is black with a rose colour. The back features a rose coloured agriculture scene with a kneeling male figure, showing produce and pouring wheat (?) from his hand into a sack. One of the unique features on the 1935 series was that each note was either all in French or English, it was not combined together like today!

Answer: 25th

It was the 25th anniversary, or the Silver Jubilee, of King George V. The face of note is black with a royal purple tint. The back shows Windsor Castle in the same royal purple colour. A very nice note, somewhat rare. Depending on the condition it could fetch you between $1,000 - $15,000. And no I don't have one, though I have seen it. I only drooled over it a wee bit...

Answer: Prince Albert

It was Prince Albert, the Duke of York, who took over as King George VI when his brother quit the throne in 1936. The face colour of the note is black with a brown tint. The back of the note is brown and depicts modern inventions, with a seated female speaking into a old fashioned microphone. OK, it was a new modern microphone in 1935! And as a young juvenile delinquent I pulled the old worn out prank of phoning the store and asking if they had Prince Albert in a tin (Prince Albert was a brand of tobacco).

When they said 'yes', we would scream 'well let him out!' and hang up. We thought it was hilarious, but I assume they probably heard it a million times...

Answer: a ship

He is showing the child a model of a ship (I hope it's a model or they are giants and he scooped it out of the water!). The back of the note is dark brown. Prince Henry, the Duke of Gloucester, is on the face of the note, which is coloured black with a dark brown tint.

Answer: Sir John A. Macdonald

Sir John A. Macdonald, Canada's first prime minister, is featured on this black with brown tinted note. He served in office from July 1st, 1867 (important day eh? Canada Day!) to 1873, and again from 1878 to 1891.
The back of the note is brown and shows a seated female with a small hand sickle in one hand. The other hand is resting over a branch of a tree and it looks like she has just finished harvesting her crops. She is supposed to represent fertility.
This five hundred dollar note is the rarest of all Bank of Canada bills. No 'uncirculated' or 'almost uncirculated' bills are KNOWN to exist outside of the Bank of Canada (although there must be some, hidden in a forgotten book or under a carpet in an old house. I have found a few other notes this way). According to my excitable coin dealer - who thought for a brief second I had come across one when I asked him about this - a note in bad shape would sell for upwards of $12,000. Any better shape and it would net you probably well over $40,000 at a minimum! Go bug Grandpa and hope he stashed one away!

Answer: Sir Wilfrid Laurier

The 1000 dollar note isn't made anymore. If you were here you would also notice I sadly don't have any in my collection, either. Sir Wilfrid Laurier was Canada's seventh prime minister. He firmly believed in national unity and he kept friend and foe together to form the Canadian landscape. Queen Victoria invited him to London, England, in 1897 to be knighted. He really didn't want the honour, and be called "sir", but he was too polite to turn the award down. The 1000 dollar note is black with an olive green tint. The back is an olive green colour with a 'security' allegory, showing a kneeling female with a helmet and a sword protecting her child.

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