Canadian Money Tracker

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Collecting FAQ

Compiled by Idjit and MmmBeer.

How come you don’t have a section on collecting?

This site is not about collecting. We like to see where money goes throughout the life of a note by tracking it online. However, some of our members like to collect notes as well, and you can find them in the ‘For Sale’ board of the forums.

Why do people collect bank notes?

People collect for a variety of reasons. Some are interested in the history of Canadian bank notes, numerical combinations fascinate others, and others are looking for unique notes or rare notes. There are almost as many reasons to collect as there are collectors.

What makes a note collectable?

There are several types of collectable notes. Some are popular because of a unique serial number, some because of their age, and others because of errors made while printing. Some of the questions below will help you understand the different types of notes.

What is a radar note?

A radar note or palindrome is where the serial numbers read the same left to right, or right to left [2558552]. Other varieties of the radar are solid numbered [2222222] and sequential [1234321].

What is a million numbered note?

Million numbered notes have six zeros following any number [1000000, 2000000, 3000000].

What is an ascending or descending note?

These notes have serial numbers that decrease or increase sequentially [1234567, 9876543, 0987654]. Examples of combined ascending/descending serial numbers are [7654567, 1234321, 3456543].

What are matching serial numbers?

This is where different denominations of notes have the same serial number. You may have a ten and a twenty that have the serial numbers AIT2587743 and GPR2587743.

What is a consecutive numbered note?

Fairly common, where two or more notes are in sequential order (for example GPA8045777, GPA8045778, GPA8045779). These notes aren’t too valuable but it’s up to you if you want to collect them.

What is a high/low note?

These notes are the lowest or highest notes found by someone in circulation.

What do you mean by ‘error note’?

The Bank of Canada prints a lot of notes and sometimes things happen. A note can be cut wrong, or sometimes a crease during printing will leave the note disfigured. Other printing errors, like mismatched serial numbers, misplaced serial numbers or blocked serial numbers can happen, and these notes are of interest to some collectors.

What is a replacement note?

The Bank of Canada sometimes produces notes specifically to replace notes spoiled during the printing process. These notes are sometimes called ‘insert notes’ because they are inserted into a printing run whenever a spoiled sheet of notes is discovered. Replacement or insert notes usually have an asterisk preceding the prefix, or an “X” in the 3rd position of a three letter prefix.

What’s a ‘Knight/Dodge’ note?

The signatures on the face of the note help the collector classify the note. Some signature combinations are rarer than others, and these are of interest to some collectors.

What’s a series?

Generally the series of a note is the date on the face of the note. The series is one of the main ways a note is classified.

Does the condition of the note make a difference?

Yes, definitely. When shopping for notes, collectors almost always value notes in perfect condition higher. The only exception is when a note is involved with an event that damages or marks the note in some way related to the event (September 11, a note with a bullet hole in it, etc.). Check out the list of note conditions.

My friend has a note that has her phone number in the serial number. Is it valuable?

Probably only to her, but like any collecting, it’s a matter of what interests the collector.

I’ve got a radar note for sale. What is it worth?

We don’t appraise notes. You can ask some of our members their opinion in the ‘For Sale’ board of the forums. You can also find books that address this question, such as “The Charlton Standard Catalogue of Canadian Government Paper Money.”