Current Status of the Canadian Paper Money Market

    GREENVILLE, SC, November 13, 2013 /24-7PressRelease/ -- There are two levels of collecting when it comes to paper money. Most people consider currency from the United States to be top notch. All bank notes that are not from The United States get grouped together as "world" currency. World currency has always been considered second-rate. However, the days of throwing all foreign bank notes into the junk box are over. Collectors are really starting to appreciate many notes for their true rarity. When it comes to foreign money, bank notes from Canada are near the top of the list in terms of popularity and value. Keep reading to learn more about what types of money from Canada are especially collectible.

Canadian currency has a long, rich, and varied history. Bank notes have been denominated in pounds, shillings, pence, dollars, cents, and sous. Fractional denominations were printed as were $1,000 bills, and pretty much everything in between. It is not uncommon to find currency with French text, English text, and sometimes both. In terms of nationality, there are probably more Americans collecting Canadian bank notes than any other country. Many bank notes have a distinctly British feel, so Canadian currency is also popular in Great Britain. And of course there are plenty of people in Canada who collect as well. There are no tricks to determining the value of a bank note. You really need to work with an expert to find an accurate value. However, we are going to give you some quick tips here.

First off, Dominion of Canada bank notes are generally considered the most collectible and they have the chance to be worth the most money of any Canadian currency. Issued $500 and $1,000 bills from The Dominion of Canada are extremely rare. You are most likely to encounter 25 cent, $1, $2, $4, and $5 bills. These notes were printed between 1870 and 1925. In this case, older notes are likely worth more money than newer notes. Regardless of age or denomination, you want to find notes that are in high grades. Canadian bank notes in uncirculated grades are always in demand.

Another very collectible area of Canadian numismatics is currency from The Bank of Canada. Don't get too excited just yet. You really need something from 1935 or 1937 to have a chance to be especially valuable. Some notes from 1954 can be collectible; but they have to be a special variety known as Devil's Face notes. That variety can be determined by looking at the Queen's hair. Some notes from 1935 are only in the French language. These are generally just called Banque du Canada bank notes. French notes are always rarer than the same English text notes. Only a small portion of Canada's population required French notes, so not many were issued. Keep in mind that money from The Bank of Canada issued after 1954 has a very small chance to be collectible.

There is another special subset of Canadian currency known as chartered bank notes. Canadian chartered bank notes were issued as early as about 1810 and as late as the 1940s. These were issued by about 160 banks throughout Canada. Many collectors focus on specific geographic regions. Values are really across the board. A couple of things to look out for are colorful notes, low serial numbers, and high denominations. All of those are popular collecting subsets and could indicate that you have a rare bank note. The average chartered bank note is usually worth a couple hundred dollars. However, it is certainly not uncommon for exceptional notes to be worth thousands of dollars.

There are other types of Canadian money that we haven't covered in this brief article. Anything that we have not covered definitely has a chance to be very collectible. Please consult an expert for more information.

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We are actively buying Canadian paper money. We also provide free appraisals. Please contact us if you have any questions. [email protected]

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