Skip to content
  • FR
FR
  • About us
    Building, illuminated glass towers on either side of an old, square, stone building.

    About us

    We're here to help you understand what the Bank of Canada does and how it matters to you.

    About the Bank of Canada

    Find out what the Bank does, who runs the Bank and how it is separate from the political process.

    Connect with us

    We’d love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Visit

    Visit

    • Plan your visit
    • Accessibility and special needs
    • Code of conduct
    • COVID-19 protocols

    Sensory Sundays

    We’re turning down the lights and the volume for our sensory-sensitive visitors—explore the Museum using more than eyes and ears.

    Connect with us

    We’d love to hear from you! Contact us by email, phone or mail—or join us on social media.

  • Explore

    Exhibitions

    • Permanent exhibition
    • Special exhibitions
    • Travelling exhibitions
    • Past exhibitions

    Blog

    Collection

    • About the Collection
    • Collection Services
    • Canadian Bank Notes Series
    • Search the Collection

    New acquisitions—2024 edition

    Bank of Canada Museum’s acquisitions in 2024 highlight the relationships that shape the National Currency Collection.

  • Learn

    Learn

    • Activities and games
    • Education blog
    • External resources
    • Lesson plans
    • School programs
    • Video discussion guides
    • Upcoming webinars

    Entrepreneurship: Kids edition

    Learn from the experiences of successful young entrepreneurs, then create your own business model and pitch your business.

    You are the economy

    A set of six lessons to explore economics with your students.

  • Home
  • The Museum Blog

A Curator’s Favourite Task

By: David Bergeron


October 23, 2017
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on Facebook
Share this page on X
Share this page on X
Share this page on LinkedIn
Share this page on LinkedIn
Share this page on Google Classroom Created with Sketch.
Share this page on Google Classroom
Share this page by email
Share this page by email

The ups and downs of research

man at a microfilm machine

The Curator hard at work viewing documents on microfilm at Library and Archives Canada (LAC).

As a curator of the National Currency Collection, I have several key responsibilities in my job. None of them is more gratifying than conducting research about the incredible artifacts in the Collection—especially when I discover something new. Before the Internet, conducting research meant numerous trips to libraries and archives of various government and private institutions and spending long—sometimes very tedious— hours going through yards of microfilm or reams of hand-written documents. Sometimes I would come up empty-handed. Now, thanks to the Internet, access to a huge range of archival documents is virtually unlimited. Furthermore, these documents are searchable, allowing for more focused searches. Either on the Internet or in the trenches, what is required of the courageous researcher is the patience and savvy to rifle through thousands—even millions—of documents to find the proverbial “needle in a haystack.” A recent research endeavour challenged me to find a very small needle in a very large stack of hay indeed.

shelves of document storage boxes

A major correspondent such as a politician can create hundreds of linear meters of archival documents. (in this case measured right to left)

document storage box

A typical archival box containing records from the department of finance.

document storage box open

Let’s look inside!

In the fall of 2016, I was invited to give a presentation at the Central States Numismatic Society’s (CSNS) semi-annual educational forum to be held in May 2017 in Windsor, Ontario. The CSNS has more than 2,000 members from 13 American Midwestern states and includes members of the Windsor Coin Club. The club president requested that I give a talk about the design competition for the Canadian coin series of 1937—the year that the coins with those iconic images we are so familiar with were first put into circulation. As 2017 marked the 80th anniversary of the issue, it was an appropriate time to present this topic.

For my research on the 1937 coin-modernization program and its design competition, I relied on a book called Striking Impressions by Dr. James A. Haxby. A former deputy curator of the National Currency Collection, Haxby provided important insights into the evolution of Canada’s coinage. Sadly, he never listed his research sources. Knowing that the additional information had to exist, I set about finding my evidence.

A logical place to begin my search was the records of the Royal Canadian Mint held at Library and Archives Canada. Flipping through the finding aid (a type of index that helps researchers navigate through multiple documents), I was surprised to see little information about early coin designs. The size of a record (or fond) is measured in linear metres, as if the papers and file folders were stacked flat. The thickness of a file folder with 25 sheets of paper inside is about 1 centimetre. The Royal Canadian Mint fonds at LAC measure 15 metres!

However, I made some interesting discoveries. One box contained original sketches by three artists who had submitted designs for the competition: Sylvia Daoust, Henri Hébert and Jean-Baptiste Lagacé. It was the first time that I learned about these Montréal artists and their submissions. Haxby did not mention them in his book. Beyond that, the finding aids gave no indication of records related to the 1937 coin-modernization program. It was a mystery to me where Haxby got his information. I had to expand my search.

It was perhaps by mere chance that I discovered several volumes of correspondence between the Master of the Royal Canadian Mint and the Deputy Minister of Finance. I had hit the jackpot…at least I thought I had.

printed list of archival items

A page from the LAC’s finding aid for the Department of Finance listing records pertaining to coinage.

letter proposing a 3-cent coin

A document in the Dept. of Finance fonds from the Canadian Bankers’ Association proposing a 3-cent coin.

The correspondence of the Deputy Minister alone measures more than 62 linear metres. That’s 2/3 the length of a football field. There were letters about the reduction of the size of the cent in 1920 and the switch from silver to nickel for the 5-cent piece in 1922. A whole volume was devoted to the celebration of the diamond jubilee of Canadian Confederation and there was correspondence about the 1935 silver dollar. I was excited thinking that I was on the verge of finding exactly what I needed. Alas, there was a giant void where records about the 1937 coin-design competition should have been.

Fortunately, the National Currency Collection has Emanuel Hahn’s correspondence concerning the ’37 design competition. Hahn designed our quarter, dime and the voyageur silver dollar. The Collection also holds production material used in the manufacturing of the dies as well as Hahn’s sketches and those of another entrant in the competition, Robert Tait McKenzie. I still had substance on which to build my talk.

design plan drawing of a coin

Pencil drawing by Emanuel Hahn sketching features proposed for the back of the 1935 silver dollar. (NCC 1963.059.015.004)

silver dollar

Reverse of 1935 silver dollar designed by Emanuel Hahn. (NCC 1978.058.285b1)

drawings of coins

Some coin designs from Montreal artist Jean-Baptiste Lagacé held at LAC’s offsite storage facility in Gatineau.

It remains somewhat of a mystery whether correspondence about the 1937 coin-modernization program even exists and, if so, where it could be. Maybe while I’m researching something else, such as the mystery of the lost voyageur dollar dies of 1987, I’ll find a stray folder about our iconic 1937 coinage—the perpetual struggle of the curatorial researcher.

P.S. If any of you readers happen to be researching Canadian coinage and encounter any information about the 1937 coin-modernization program, .

We want to hear from you! Do you have an idea for a blog post you’d like to see?
Content type(s): Blog posts

Subscribe to The Museum Blog
The Museum Blog

February 26, 2025

New acquisitions—2024 edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


Bank of Canada Museum’s acquisitions in 2024 highlight the relationships that shape the National Currency Collection.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 11, 2025

Money’s metaphors

By: Phillipe Audet-Cayer, Graham Iddon, Patricia Marando


Buck, broke, greenback, loonie, toonie, dough, flush, gravy train, born with a silver spoon in your mouth… No matter how common the expression for money, many of us haven’t the faintest idea where these terms come from.
Content type(s): Blog posts
August 6, 2024

Treaties, money and art

By: Krista Broeckx, Frank Shebageget


Photo, collage, a photograph and a drawing of an elderly White man in a high collar and old-fashioned suit.
The Bank of Canada Museum’s collection has a new addition: an artwork called Free Ride by Frank Shebageget. But why would a museum about the economy buy art?
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, History
July 16, 2024

Rai: big money

By: Graham Iddon


An item is said to have cultural value when it can be directly associated with the history, people, beliefs or rituals important to a society. It’s the same with a rai—its value can be greater depending upon who authorized it, who carved it and who subsequently owned it.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Geography, History Grade level(s): Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
April 18, 2024

Lessons from the Great Depression

By: Graham Iddon


A welfare coupon and piece of stock ticker tape over a 1930s black and white photo of unemployed men gathering to protest.
What the stock market crash of 1929 did was starkly reveal the weaknesses of economic systems that had evolved from the unregulated capitalism of the late 19th century.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy, History Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
March 25, 2024

Welcoming Newfoundland to Canada

By: David Bergeron


Newfoundland’s entry into Confederation marked the end of an era when Canadian provinces issued their own coins and paper money.
Content type(s): Blog posts
December 19, 2023

New Acquisitions—2023 Edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


It’s that time of the year again—the wrap-up of the Bank of Canada Museum’s annual acquisition program. Here are a few highlights of the latest additions to the National Currency Collection.
Content type(s): Blog posts
November 27, 2023

Mo’ money, mo’ questions

By: Heather Montgomery


But what do you do with money once you have it? That’s for you to decide. A budget can really help. It will allow you to keep track of what you earn (income) and what you spend (expenses).
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 04, Grade 05, Grade 06, Grade 07 / Secondary 1, Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
November 16, 2023

Understanding cryptocurrencies

By: Graham Iddon


Un circuit imprimé d’un ordinateur avec des dizaines de circuits et un ventilateur.
Most of us are aware of them, but how much do we really understand about cryptocurrencies?
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Financial literacy Grade level(s): Grade 08 / Secondary 2, Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
September 12, 2023

A checkup on cheques

By: David Bergeron


Photo, a tabletop with several printed paper forms and hand-written documents plus a bank card.  
With the continuing rise of e-transfers and electronic payments, people have been predicting the death of the humble cheque for decades. But it hasn’t happened yet.
Content type(s): Blog posts
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 16
  • Next »
Go To Page

30 Bank Street
Ottawa, ON
K1A 0G9, CANADA
613‑782‑8914

  • Things to do

  • Plan your visit
  • Find educational resources
  • Search the Collection
  • Connect with us
  • Things to see

  • Canadian bank notes
  • Exhibitions
  • Blog
  • Videos
  • Things to know

  • Accessibility and special needs
  • Careers
  • Code of conduct
  • COVID-19 protocols
  • Privacy
  • Social media
●●
Bank of Canada Museum

Visit the Bank of Canada web site ›

We use cookies to help us keep improving this website.

Accept and continue