About the note
All but two notes in this series carry a portrait of King George VI. The same portrait appears on the First series’ $50 note. Robert Savage of the American Bank Note Company engraved the King’s portrait after a photograph by Bertram Park of Marcus Adams Ltd. in London, England. In the image, the King is wearing an admiral’s uniform. Though he was initially in the Navy during the First World War, he switched to the Royal Air Force in 1918 and became the first in his family to learn to fly.
The colour of this note was changed from blue to a terracotta pink. All future $2 notes would be a version of this colour. The allegorical vignette on the back represents the theme of the harvest, one of several agricultural allegories in this series. The image was engraved by Harry P. Dawson of the British American Bank Note Company. The horn of plenty behind the figure is a symbol rooted in Greek mythology. The god Zeus gave a goat’s horn the ability to endlessly fill and refill with food and drink. Now, the horn is generally used as symbol of the harvest.
At a glance
- Portrait: King George VI
- Date of issue: July 19, 1937
- Last day of issue: December 31, 1954
- Signatures:
- Deputy Governors James A. C. Osborne, Donald Gordon and James E. Coyne
- Governor Graham F. Towers
- Dimensions: 15.2 cm x 7.2 cm
- Design: Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd., British American Bank Note Company Ltd.
- Printer: British American Bank Note Company Ltd.
- Status: not legal tender
