Scenes of Canada
Scenes of Canada is the fourth series of banknotes of the Canadian dollar issued by the Bank of Canada. It was first circulated in 1970 to succeed the 1954 Canadian Landscape series and was followed by the 1986 Birds of Canada banknote series. This was the last series to feature a $1 bill, which was replaced by a $1 coin known as the loonie in 1987, although both the $1 bill and the loonie were produced concurrently for 21 months, from June 1987 to April 1989.
Design
The design process for this series began in 1963 with a primary goal of creating banknotes that were more counterfeit-resistant than the 1954 Canadian Landscape series it was to replace. The Bank of Canada requested design submissions from security printing companies, receiving several from both domestic and foreign companies. One proposed design was received from Organisation Giori, a Swiss security printer based in Lausanne that had developed a multicolour printing press "that raised the bar on banknote security". Its designs for the $10 and $20 banknotes were a "significant departure" from traditional Canadian banknote designs by incorporating more colours, new graphic elements, and different security features, but the design was rejected. Final conceptual designs were created by Canadian Bank Note Company, British American Bank Note Company, and De La Rue, the latter being the first foreign firm involved in the design of Canadian banknotes. The design by De La Rue was selected by the Bank of Canada in 1964 as the basis for the new series.Each denomination retained the dominant colour of the respective banknote from the Canadian Landscape series: green for the $1 banknote, orange for the $2 banknote, blue for the $5 banknote, mauve for the $10 banknote, burnt orange for the $50 banknote, and brown for the $100 banknote. Because of the multicoloured tints used to complement the design for each banknote, Bank of Canada staff began referring to the series as the "multicoloured series".
The portraits on the obverse of each denomination were larger than for the same denomination in the Canadian Landscape series. Initially, all denominations were to feature the portrait of Elizabeth II, but portraits of former prime ministers were used for some denominations at the request of Edgar Benson, the Minister of Finance in 1968, to "reflect Canada's burgeoning national identity". The vertical borders of the obverse were curvilinear, the left edge of which had "multicoloured diamonds" bordering a circular frame within which was the Coat of Arms. It also featured "sweeping guilloché" patterns.
The reverse of each denomination had a scenic vignette. The initial design by De La Rue included a circular watermark that was excluded from the final design. A memorandum circulated to designers during the design process stated that the "subjects chosen represent a substantial improvement in range of contrast and detail", to improve security.
The phrase "will pay to the bearer on demand" that appeared in earlier banknote series was replaced by the phrase "this note is legal tender", reflecting the fact that Canadian banknotes had long since ceased to be redeemable in gold.
Security
Colourful, wavy patterns were part of each denomination's design. The serial numbers on the obverse were printed in red on the left and blue on the right.In addition, this is the first series that has interleaving position of English and French text. The interleaving nature is by text on the same side, as well as by denomination. The following table is a complete representation of all positions of English texts on all denominations.
| $1 | $2 | $5 | $10 | $20 | $50 | $100 | |
| "Bank of Canada" on obverse | L | R | L | R | L | R | L |
| Value on obverse | R | L | R | L | R | L | R |
| "This note is legal tender" | L | R | R | L | L | L | R |
| "Deputy governor" | R | R | R | L | L | R | L |
| "Governor" | L | R | R | L | L | R | L |
| Value on reverse | L | R | L | R | L | R | L |
| "Bank of Canada" on reverse | R | L | R | L | L | L | R |
Banknotes
The dates stamped on the banknotes represent the year in which the original intaglio plates were produced for that denomination. The most prominent designer for this series was C. Gordon Yorke, who engraved the portraits of Robert Borden and Wilfrid Laurier and the vignettes for four of the seven denominations. The series was the first Bank of Canada series not to include a $1,000 note; the Canadian Landscape design of this bill continued to be printed during this series's run, with an updated $1,000 note appearing in the Birds of Canada series in 1992.All notes measure.
$1 note
The original design for the $1 banknote used green as the dominant colour, but final designs used black to mitigate possible confusion with the $20 banknote.The portrait on the obverse is of Elizabeth II, the engraving for which was created by George Gunderson, master engraver at British American Bank Note Company. A tugboat is prominent in the foreground of the vignette on the reverse, which depicts the Ottawa River with a broken log boom with Parliament Hill in the background. It was engraved by Yorke based on a 1963 photograph taken by Malak Karsh.
The banknote was first circulated in June 1974 and was printed by both CBN and BABN. The final print run for the banknote was on 20 April 1989, two years after the $1 coin had been introduced. The run was circulated by the end of June 1989, after which banks were required to refrain from circulating the banknotes and to send collected $1 banknotes to the Bank of Canada for destruction.
$2 note
The portrait on the obverse is of Elizabeth II.The reverse of the $2 banknote features a scene of six men of an Inuit family preparing their kayaks for a hunt, based on a 1950s photograph of Joseph and Paul Idlout and their relatives taken at Pond Inlet in Baffin Island by Douglas Wilkinson. It was engraved by Yorke, and was originally intended to be used on the reverse of the $100 banknote.
The $2 banknote was first circulated in August 1975 and was printed by BABN.
$5 note
The portrait on the obverse is of Wilfrid Laurier, the engraving for which was created by Yorke.The vignette on the reverse was based on a photograph by George Hunter and engraved by George Gunderson and Yorke. It depicts a salmon seiner in the Johnstone Strait, a channel along the northeast coast of Vancouver Island.
The $5 banknote was first circulated in December 1972 and was printed by CBN. An updated version was issued in 1979, for which the serial numbers were moved to the bottom centre of the reverse and the central obverse guilloché was modified.
$10 note
The portrait on the obverse is of John A. Macdonald, for which the engraving was created by Gunderson.A scene depicting the operations of Polymer Corporation in Sarnia, Ontario is on the reverse, chosen because the Crown corporation had "achieved a world-wide reputation" and the image "provided detail ideally suited to engraving", according to a Bank of Canada memorandum. The engraving was made by De La Rue based on a photograph taken by George Hunter.
The $10 banknote was first circulated in November 1971 and was printed by CBN.
$20 note
The portrait on the obverse is of Elizabeth II. The reverse depicts a scene of the Canadian Rockies, specifically Moraine Lake in the Valley of the Ten Peaks, based on a photograph from the Canadian Pacific Railway archives taken by Nicholas Morant. The original engraving for the reverse was prepared by De La Rue, but because the mountains "did not seem authentic", an engraving prepared by BABN was used instead.It was unveiled at a press conference by the Bank of Canada on 18 June 1970, and released into circulation four days later. It was printed by CBN and BABN. An updated version was issued in December 1978, for which the serial numbers were moved to the bottom centre of the reverse, the central obverse design was modified, and the secondary colours were more strongly emphasized to further differentiate the $20 banknote from the $1 banknote. It was both the first and last of the Scenes of Canada banknotes to be printed, with the final printings taking place in 1993, seven years after the Birds of Canada series of banknotes had been introduced.
$50 note
The portrait on the obverse is of William Lyon Mackenzie King, based on a photograph by Karsh and engraved by Gunderson.The reverse depicts a dome formation from the Musical Ride of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The vignette was suggested by Sterling Suggett, a researcher and banknote designer employed by the Bank of Canada, to honour the RCMP's centennial in 1973 and was based on a photograph taken by Donald K. Guerrette. The image made this banknote the most popular of the series. Originally, the vignette was to depict a frozen lake based on a photograph taken near Sudbury, Ontario, but it was rejected because the orange ink had a limited tonal range. A photograph from a National Ballet of Canada performance of Swan Lake that had been proposed for the $1,000 banknote was chosen instead as the well-proportioned scene provided "an opportunity for truly virtuoso engraving". A proof engraving was prepared by George Gunderson using slate grey as the dominant colour, but disappointed with the result suggested using "a shade between orchid and claret". This led to the change to the Musical Ride image.
The banknote's colouration was to be the same as that of the $50 banknote of the 1954 Series, but because the Bank of Canada discontinued using the heavy metal required to make the "traditional brilliant orange tint" ink, the colour was thus changed to red.
The banknote was first circulated in March 1975 and printed by CBN.