The glimmerings of a Canadian identity begin to appear in these bank notes, produced only two years after the First series was issued. The death of King George V, quickly followed by the abdication of his son, Edward VIII, prompted some quick redesigns, but the Bank of Canada took this opportunity to make some very formative changes.
After the First series was issued, the government made a big change to the Bank of Canada Act: all future bank notes were to be bilingual. This was 30 years before the Official Languages Act was passed and prompted bitter debate in the House of Commons. This one change would make bank note production and distribution far simpler. But it required a partial redesign of the notes.
The portrait of King George VI was used on all denominations in this series except for the $100 and $1,000 notes, which featured former Canadian prime ministers. The portraits were moved to the centre, which made a symmetrical design appropriate to bilingual wording. The designs were now more uniform across the series, and each denomination had a new, distinct colour—a familiar colour scheme that, with variations, has since appeared on all our note series. The rear views of the notes remained fundamentally the same as those in the 1935 series, with a few vignettes moving from one denomination to another.
Security features were the same as for the 1935 series. Intaglio printing—raised ink that could be felt—was used extensively on both sides, and green dots called planchettes were scattered throughout the paper.
Explore each note
Bilingual Series $1 Note
The face of the $1 note was modified in 1938 to increase the width of the panel in which the signatures appeared by 2.4 mm, to counter earlier printing problems.
Bilingual Series $2 Note
The $2 note was printed by British American Bank Note Company in a new terracotta shade called “sanguine.” The back of the note carries the harvest allegory found on the back of the $10 note in the 1935 series and was engraved by Harry Dawson.
Bilingual Series $5 Note
The $5 note, printed by British American Bank Note Company, features the same image of electric power that appears on the back of the 1935 $5 note, but is blue rather than orange.
Bilingual Series $10 Note
Also printed by British American Bank Note Company, the back of the purple $10 note features the allegorical image from the 1935 $2 note, a winged Mercury representing transportation.
Bilingual Series $20 Note
Printed by Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd., the new $20 note was produced in olive green rather than rose pink. The fertility allegory from the 1935 $500 note appears on the back.
Bilingual Series $50 Note
The colour of the $50 note was changed from brown to orange, and the back features the same allegorical figure representing modern inventions that appears on the 1935 $50 note.
Bilingual Series $100 Note
The $100 note in this series is the same sepia tint as the 1935 $500 note, and the face features the same portrait of Sir John A. Macdonald.
Bilingual Series $1000 Note
The $1,000 note was issued several years after the rest of the 1937 series. It took on the rose tint of the 1935 $20 note but retained the portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier.
