Like many Canadians, David Johnson of Sydney River, N.S., has only seen Queen Elizabeth II on the $20 bill his whole life. However, when the new bank note featuring King Charles comes out he’ll be able to say he played a part in it. “It was a real honour to say that I had a little connection to this new $20 bill,” Johnson said on Thursday. The longtime commentator and author of a book about the Royal Family – and recently retired political science professor at Cape Breton University - said he was contacted by the Bank of Canada three years ago, shortly after Charles’ coronation, to be part of a seven-person advisory group that would help shape the new bill’s design. Until recently though, he could not tell anyone because he was bound by a nondisclosure agreement. “We never knew at the end of our days with this advisory group what the Bank of Canada would do with all of these ideas,” Johnson said. Dr. Madhuparna Gupta from Saint Mary’s University in Halifax was also part of the advisory group. Now, anyone can see the result on the Bank of Canada website. The new 20 is vertical, with the King on the front of the bill and the Vimy Ridge Memorial on the back. The lower portion of it is decked out with maple leaves and poppies. To make the bill difficult to forge, there are a few unique features. “When you look at the bill from a slightly different angle, what is initially a maple leaf becomes a 20 and then it shifts back and forth,” Johnson said. “It’s absolutely mesmerizing.” In November 2018, when the Viola Desmond $10 bill was put into circulation, her sister Wanda Robson, who lived in North Sydney, N.S., was part of its release. That means when the new King Charles $20 bill comes out, there will be Nova Scotian and Cape Breton connections to two pieces of Canadian currency. “A Black woman on the $10 bill - the Queen is in good company,” the late Robson said at the time. Soon, it will be the King sharing that company when the new 20 is in bank machines and wallets in January. “It is a beautiful, beautiful bill and in contrast to a lot of the, I think, boring American currency, this Canadian bill will probably stand out and be talked about worldwide,” Johnson said. For more Nova Scotia news, visit our dedicated provincial page
