2015: Queen Elizabeth's longest reigning monarch of UK

In 2015, Queen Elizabeth II became the longest reigning monarch in British history and the Bank of Canada acknowledged this milestone by including a new holographic strip (& 2015 issue date) on this special Commemorative edition. Fifty million Commemorative TWENTY Dollar notes were printed with the FWS-FWW prefixes. The last FWW prefix had a short print run (approximately 3.5 M) & is very collectible in high grades.

While 50M Commemorative $20 were released, the 2015 issue trickled out with little (to no) fanfare & many old school collectors dismissed them outright since they were polymer. It was very difficult to get a special serial number as large gaps were discovered in their serial numbering & bank staff were reluctant to release bundles/large lots to the public. I found them very tough to source.

2017: Canada 150 years old!

In 2017, Canada celebrated 150 years as a nation. The BoC acknowledged this occasion with a completely redesigned TEN Dollar Commemorative featuring the portraits of Sir John A Macdonald, Sir George E Cartier, Agnes Macphail and Senator James Gladstone. Several new security features were employed in the new design. Of the CDA-CDF prefixes, once again, the last (CDF) was the shortest (& most collectible) prefix (approximately 3.2 M).

Fifty million of the 6 prefixes were released with much more fanfare than the 2015 $20. However, like the $20, no replacements were inserted & large gaps in the serial numbers made finding special serials a chore. The last CDF prefix was released most often in the province of Quebec so collectors in other parts of the nation were forced to purchase them. Like many of the other polymer denominations, these notes often had scratches on their holographic windows rendering them uncollectible. But, in comparison to the $20, these notes were saved far more often than the $20 (often used, spent or circulated).

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