Withdrawn Canadian Banknotes - $500

$500

In its first banknote issue in 1935, the Bank of Canada printed a $500 bill. As with the $1000 bill, the $500 bill had two versions: one in English, one in French. No bill of this denomination has been printed since.

The bill was coloured sepia, or burnt sienna; the front featured Sir John A. Macdonald, and the back depicted a fertility allegory.

There had been two previous printings of the $500 bill by the Dominion of Canada, one in 1925 featuring King George V, and one in 1911 picturing Queen Mary. Of the latter, only three are known to still exist, one of which sold for US$322,000 in a Heritage auction in October 2008. It is unlikely that further 1911 notes survived the Depression.