The new Canadian $50 banknote is announced. Now our money matches again!
Its theme is “nationbuilding”, and it honours Thérèse Casgrain and the “Famous Five”.
First impressions? Doesn’t seem to be as red as the old one. Has the same good glittery jingly bits as the new 20 and 100.
I dunno. The 50’s been all downhill since they took the Musical Ride off the back.
As you know I’m a little chary about certain members of the Famous 5, but they seem to be better served as a group. Thérèse Casgrain is also well put. My favourite part, though, is the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (whose first draft was written by a Canadian).
Is the new $50 note paper, or has Canada made the move to polymer currency like Australia and New Zealand?
It’s paper. But we do have coins for our ones and twos.
So it’s Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King on the bill. I always thought that he started a rebellion or something.
Well, no, Mackenzie King was named after a rebel (William Lyon Mackenzie) that tried (and failed dismally) to take Toronto in 1837.
Mackenzie King was not one of our best Prime Ministers – I think either he or Borden should have been replaced with Pearson.
Or, failing that, replace his portrait with a picture of him channeling his dead mother through his dog – it’s probably what he’s best known for nowadays 
Now it’s coming back!! But I never knew that he was named after the rebel. My class went to William Lyon Mackenzie (the rebel’s) house. The rebellion was fought at the future spot of Maple Leaf Gardens I think.
William Lyon Mackenzie was the Prime Minister’s maternal grandfather, hence his name.
Oooo… shiny things!
Can’t wait until we get a batch of these at my desk.
I was a little skeptical at first of the design for the back of the fifty, because I was rather uncomfortable with Emily Murphy’s white supremecist background. I see, though, that she sort of disappears with the others.
The quote from the UN Declaration of Human Rights is a great touch, too.
It is still a little odd to have Emily Murphy on one side of a bill devoted to progressive politics, and William Lyon Mackenzie “One-is-too-many” King on the other. Laurier might have been a better choice for the human rights theme, and they could always have given WLMK winter and hockey.
So let’s see – each billis an aspect of Canadian identity. Is this a fair summing up?
$5 – winter/hockey
$10 – peacekeeping
$20 – the arts
$50 – human rights/progressive politics
$100 – communication and knowledge
Funny – I never thought of William Lyon Mackenzie as particularly maternal
We could sure do with some better designs on American paper currency, particularly the backs. The depictions of historic buildings are generally about as sterile as can be, and even more so since the redesigns of recent years. For instance, the White House engraving on the back of the twenty used to have some bushes and trees that offered some relief, and then the ten used to have that unusual three-quarter view of the Treasury Building, with the little cars in front.
You’d think that in a country so overendowed with natural wonders and scenic vistas they could put some of those on the bills! Think of it…Yosemite Valley on the back of the ten. The Grand Canyon on the twenty. It’s sad to think of what could be…but probably won’t.
Architecture isn’t a bad thing to have on a bill – Euros do that to marvellous effect.
What always got me was the colour of American money. Money in most other places is so bright and multicoloured, and I always wondered why there wasn’t more colour variation in American money.
Maybe they designed the notes that way to get away from the natural wonders and scenic vistas?
At the Bureau of Engraving and Printing, late 1700s. An engraver looks out the window:
“Aw ^%$$&! Another fruited plain filled with the bounty of Nature! Another sky filled with the cerulean majesty of Heaven! I’m so sick of it! I–”
“Whatever, Mike. How’s the new money coming along?”
“Pretty good. It’s going to be… restful.”
It’s not that architecture is bad. Certain of the buildings used have a deep meaning for Americans, like the Lincoln Memorial or Independence Hall, and I’m not trying to rag on the buildings themselves or what they symbolize. But they could have come up with some more interesting views of the buildings.
The color thing never bothered me, but I can see how it might be confusing for foreign visitors used to having every denomination a different hue. Now, however, three of the bills have the denomination in a huge numeral on the back, so that should help a bit.
Like Spectre of Pithecanthropus, I never considered the color all that important, particularly since the numbers were always displayed fairly prominently. However, this is becoming a moot point as the Bureau of Engraving and Printing is slowly introducing different colors to the different bills. The $20 has a subtle peach background and the new $50 (which I have yet to actually hold) has a not-so-subtle red, white, and blue background. I wonder what’s next?
I very rarely see the new 20s, which is surprising. If the Fed wants to introduce a new note design to foil counterfeiters, you’d think the next thing would be to recall all the older versions of the note. A twenty dollar bill lasts a fairly long while in normal circulation, but if the Fed no longer gave old-style notes to the banks when they order them, then they’d be right out of circulation in a matter of months. I think this did happen when the first redesign of a few years ago was introduced. It seemed like after only a few months, you almost never saw the older, 1920s style design.
It wasn’t so much that I found it confusing, just that that colour always struck me as depressing. Money should be bright and cheerful, to distract you from the fact that you’re selling your soul for it