- What’s all this about highs and lows?
- What do you mean by signatures?
- What do you mean by signature combination?
- What signature combinations are there?
- Why care about signatures, isn’t the prefix good enough?
- So who cares about these high/low things?
- What is an insert?
- How do I record a high/low?
What’s all this about highs and lows?
Highs and lows are a variation of collecting that tries to determine, from field observation, what the highest serial number and the lowest serial number are for a particular denomination. This is usually done by prefix (the three letters at the beginning of the serial number), but signature combinations are also considered. The high/low search shows the lowest and highest serial numbers entered on this site.
What do you mean by signatures?
On every note that the Bank of Canada has produced are the signatures of the Deputy Governor and the Governor of the Bank of Canada. Although their signatures are hard to read, there aren’t that many combinations, and it’s easy to determine what you have.
What do you mean by signature combination?
When the Bank of Canada first issued the 1935 series of notes, J.A.C. Osborne was the Deputy Governor, and G.F. Towers was the Governor; hence we have Osborne/Towers signatures on all 1935 series notes. Unfortunately, King George V died unexpectedly so in 1937 new notes had to be issued. Osborne/Towers signatures appeared at first, then after Osborne resigned D. Gordon took over as Deputy (Gordon/Towers) and then J.E. Coyne (Coyne/Towers)… Towers must have been a hard guy to work with. :)
What signature combinations are there?
Here’s the list with the series that each combination appeared on:
- Osborne/Towers – 1935, 1937
- Gordon/Towers – 1937
- Coyne/Towers – 1937, 1954 Devil’s Face
- Beattie/Coyne – 1954 Devil’s Face, 1954 Modified
- Beattie/Rasminsky – 1954 Modified, Multi-Coloured Series
- Bouey/Rasminsky – 1954 Modified, Multi-Coloured Series
- Lawson/Bouey – 1954 Modified, Multi-Coloured Series
- Crow/Bouey – Multi-Coloured Series, Bird Series
- Thiessen/Crow – Multi-Coloured Series, Bird Series
- Bonin/Thiessen – Bird Series
- Knight/Thiessen – Bird Series, Canadian Journey Series
- Knight/Dodge – Bird Series, Canadian Journey Series
Why care about signatures, isn’t the prefix good enough?
The Bank of Canada seldom changes over to new signature combinations at nice round numbers of millions. For example, the Bird Series $50 note changed from Knight/Thiessen to Knight/Dodge at FHV6920000. On a number of occasions, the Bank has dropped a prefix part way through the numbers and didn’t complete all 10 million notes. Finding notes and ranges of notes with special qualities is just fun to watch.
So who cares about these high/low things?
Good one. I guess you do if you’ve read all the way down here. Some collectors like to get notes that are as close as possible to the first and the last note of a prefix, or the first and the last note of a series, or the closest to a signature changeover. Also, by tracking notes as they appear, it’s one way for us to determine which notes are inserts.
What is an insert?
An insert, or replacement, note is printed to replace a note spoiled during printing, and is inserted into the printing run. Replacement notes usually have an asterisk before the prefix, or an “X” as the third letter of the prefix. See the Collecting FAQ for more.
How do I record a high/low?
If you saw a note but didn’t have it (in a collection or a bank bundle, say), tick “This is a high/low I saw but didn’t have” when adding the note. It isn’t a hit, and instead of a postal code you say where you saw it in the comments. On any note’s page you can also add its signatures, whether it’s an insert, and the year it was printed.