CPM Forum
Canadian Notes => Show and Tell => Topic started by: Dean on September 28, 2024, 08:36:42 pm
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Big F Small F varieties in the 1971 $10s
I have been quietly accumulating data on 1971 $10s for the past year or so.
In light of the Big B Small B variation in the $1 notes discovered by Whitenite and Claude, I have decided that now is the time to publish my discovery.
In prefix FDC, a known changeover prefix, there are notes with either a big F with elongated tines or a small F with short tines.
I have found the small F variety in the Crow/Bouey signed FDC $10s in the high 3,000,000-4,000,000 range.
Then, after the changeover to Thiessen/Crow, the big F reappears.
The same phenomenon exists in the FDS prefix, the last of the 1971 10s. I believe the change from big F to small F begins somewhere around FDS 2,000,000.
The discovery of the different letter sizes in the multicolour and bird series is worthy of more discussion and research. Please check your collections to see if you have one!
Enjoy!
Dean
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I recall seeing an FDS in the 1.7 million range, and it had the small F variety. I even admit to being so jealous that I wanted an FDS too (I did finally get one in October 1991, but it was under 1 million and had the large F).
FDS was a very rare prefix to come by, especially in Atlantic Canada. Barely more than 3 million were printed, if I recall. I remember seeing a small amount of FDR in early summer, and shortly after that the new Birds issue $10s appeared. Makes me wonder if all of the FDS prefix got issued (including the very narrow 3 million range), or if some of the higher 2 million onwards never got released the same way $5 ANU released fewer than 3 million despite having printed nearly 7 million?
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Barely more than 3 million were printed, if I recall. Makes me wonder if all of the FDS prefix got issued (including the very narrow 3 million range), or if some of the higher 2 million onwards never got released the same way $5 ANU released fewer than 3 million despite having printed nearly 7 million?
The number of FDS prefix $10s printed was 3,140,000 according to the Charlton Catalogue.
The highest numbered FDS prefix note that I have in my possession is FDS2984691. I have not yet encountered an FDS prefix note higher than 3,000,000.
It is possible that the Bank of Canada ordered a halt to the distribution of multicolour $10s and the destruction of remaining stocks when the Birds $10 was put into circulation.
On a related topic, I recall seeing large volumes of consecutive 1979 multicolour $20 replacement notes being released in 1993 from CIBC "Instant Teller" machines. I remember one time when my mom withdrew some money and the machine dispensed 10 consecutive "5100" replacements.
I was a kid and I spent all of my money to buy a new Nintendo game, so I couldn't afford to ask her to keep one of those notes. :(
This event with the 1979 replacements happened months after the "new" birds of Canada notes were released and were dispensed by the bank machines. For several weeks afterward, this CIBC branch dispensed a mixture of "new" birds $20s and 1979 replacement notes from both printers,5100 and 5160.
Why would the Bank of Canada go out of its way in some cases to hold back and destroy large stocks of notes in some cases while allowing large volumes of replacement notes from a newly obsolete series which were not intended to be released consecutively en masse into circulation?
My thought is that in mid to late 1993, there was a sudden unexpected demand for $20 bills and the printing companies could not fulfill a rush order so the Bank of Canada met the demand by "scraping the bottom of the barrel" and released any unissued stock that they had in the vaults. The $20 was and still is the workhorse denomination in the economy so the Bank of Canada couldn't wait for the printers to catch up.
With $10 notes being relatively less popular in circulation, maybe the Bank of Canada could afford to destroy new old stock of multicolour notes and begin the withdrawal of the old series $10s while waiting for the new Birds series notes to arrive.
Thoughts?
Dean
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I do remember seeing an FDR $10 note inside a cashier's till at a MET store in Central Newfoundland early in July 1989, so it is possible that banks in Newfoundland received FDR as the last new prefix of the Multicolored series during the final week prior to the release of the Birds $10. The BoC has had a history of releasing the final new banknotes of a series during the final week before a new series gets released, likely as a massive clearout of outstanding unreleased bills, clearing out as much as they can before the new series gets released.
I do recall seeing the final $1 notes issued to banks during the $1 bill's final week of issue, all with prefix ECS. It's quite interesting that the Birds $10 note was released during the final week of issue for the $1 note. The Bank of Canada was quite busy that week.
I suspect there will likely be a massive clearout of unreleased Frontiers $20s during the final weeks (or final few months) prior to the release of new vertical bills with King Charles. You'll likely see a surge of activity of new $20s in the final weeks prior to the King Charles series.
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I also remember seeing the small F variety on a few of the prefixes on the Birds $5s. Prefixes I definitely recall seeing were FNA in the 7 million range, FNE in the 9 million range, and FOS in the 9 million range. I may have seen one FP* banknote with the small F (FPU?), but I don't remember offhand.
The small F variety would not become standard until somewhere in FHG or FHH on the $50s in 1995 - after the $5s entered printer letter G (which always was the standard small G), though some higher FNX replacement notes did have the small F (7 million to 8 million range). Just before the Journey series launched in 2001, the $50 was the only banknote using printer letter F at the time.
The big F - used in Canada from 1988 through 1994/95 - looks a lot like the F used in the serial numbers on U.S. currency, and same for the big B on Canadian $1 and $2 bills in the late 1980s.
I wouldn't be surprised if FDR also got released only in limited quantities during the final week or two of the multicoloured series, as I don't remember seeing much of that prefix in ranges outside 1.3M-1.4M (I recall seeing one in the 8M range, but nothing else otherwise). Makes me wonder if FDR was much scarcer than FDS?