2 Dollars

The Bank of Canada opened in March 1935, making this 2 Dollar note part of the inaugural issue — the first series ever produced by a central bank that had not existed twelve months earlier. The bilingual English/French design was a deliberate political choice, contentious enough internally that separate English-dominant and French-dominant varieties were produced within the same series to satisfy regional sensitivities without fully committing to equal billing on a single face.

J.A. Osborne, whose signature appears here, was the Bank's first Deputy Governor. G.F. Towers was its founding Governor, appointed at 37 — unusually young for the role, and a political appointee of the Bennett government who would outlast four prime ministers in the position.