Canadian five-dollar bill
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The Canadian five-dollar bill is currently the lowest denomination banknote issued by the Bank of 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. 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":
Les hivers de mon enfance étaient des saisons longues, longues. Nous vivions en trois lieux: l'école, l'église et la patinoire; mais la vraie vie était sur la patinoire.
The winters of my childhood were long, long seasons. We lived in three places - the school, the church and the skating rink - but our life was on the skating rink.[1]
In the image, one of the hockey players is wearing jersey number 9. Many believe this is to honour Canadian hockey legend Maurice Richard (which would follow Carrier's story, in which a young Quebecois boy is obsessed with "The Rocket"),[citation needed] but the list of great Canadian hockey players to have worn the number is long.[2]
Yellow dots representing the EURion constellation can be found the reverse side. This bill features raised, textured printing as well as a special tactile feature (similar to Braille dots) to assist the blind in identifying the denomination. Security features include 'BANK OF CANADA' and 'BANQUE DU CANADA' only visible under ultraviolet light.
On 15 November 2006, the Bank of Canada released an updated version of the $5 bill (issue of 2006) with updated security features, including a holographic stripe found in the rest of the series, and a watermark of Laurier that appears when held to the light.[3] These features replaced the iridescent maple leaves that were in the issue of 2002.
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. The money saved in making the coin would then fund the Canadian Olympic team. Canadians resoundingly rejected and ridiculed the idea of a five-dollar coin.[4] Some pointed out the bill's most recent redesign took place only four years prior, while many others were averse to the idea of carrying yet another coin in their wallets and pockets. Due to the overwhelmingly negative response, plans for the five-dollar coin were discarded.
[edit] References
- ^ Centre for Language and Literature - Canadian Writers - Roch Carrier - Athabasca University
- ^ Hockey Night in Canada: By The Numbers: Number 9
- ^ Bank of Canada Issues Upgraded $5 Bank Note. 15 November 2006.
- ^ $5 coin? 'Ridiculous'. CBC News, 22 August 2005.
[edit] External links
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