Canadian five-dollar bill

From Freepedia

The Canadian five-dollar bill is one of the most common banknotes of Canadian currency. It is the lowest denomination banknote currently issued in Canada.

The current five-dollar bill is dominantly blue in colour. The front features a portrait of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the coat of arms, and a picture of the West Block of the Parliament buildings. A security feature visible from the front consists of three shiny maple leaves. The reverse side depicts children engaged in winter sports, including sledding, ice skating, and hockey; this is accompanied by a quotation from Roch Carrier's short story "The Hockey Sweater", and a child wearing Maurice Richard's #9 as a further tribute to the story, and to the man. Yellow dots representing the EURion constellation can be found on both sides (and on all 2001 series notes). As well as textured printing, this new 2004 design incorporates a special tactile feature similar to Braille dots for the blind indicating the denomination.

A highly-unknown security feature includes a writing of 'BANK OF CANADA' and 'BANQUE DU CANADA' along with the Coat of Arms over the face of Laurier. It is only detected under ultraviolet light.

As with all modern Canadian banknotes, all text is in both English and French.

In 2005, the Canadian government polled its citizens on the idea of retiring the five dollar bill, replacing it with a five dollar coin. This was based on a mistaken belief that the British Royal Mint regularly issued a five pound coin. (While Britain does have a five pound coin, it is struck mostly for commemorative purposes and was never meant to replace the five-pound banknote.)

Canadians resoundedly rejected and ridiculed the idea of a five-dollar coin. Some pointed out the bill's most recent redesign had only been four years previously, while many others were averse to the idea of carrying yet another heavy coin in their wallets and pockets. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response, the plans for the five dollar coin were scrapped.

Canadian banknotes and coins

Topics: Canadian dollar | Bank of Canada | Royal Canadian Mint

Banknotes: $5 | $10 | $20 | $50 | $100 | Withdrawn

Coins: 1¢ (Penny) | 5¢ (Nickel) | 10¢ (Dime) | 25¢ (Quarter) 50¢ (50-cent Piece) | $1 (Loonie) | $2 (Toonie)