Bank of Canada unveils new $20 bill featuring King Charles, Vimy memorial

Bank of Canada unveils new $20 bill featuring King Charles, Vimy memorial IAN BAILEY OTTAWA PUBLISHED 10 HOURS AGO UPDATED 4 HOURS AGO Open this photo in gallery: The new Canadian $20 banknote features a portrait of King Charles III and an image of the Vimy Ridge memorial on its reverse. JUSTIN TANG/THE CANADIAN PRESS COMMENTS SHARE SAVE FOR LATER For the first time in more than 70 years, a new monarch will appear on Canada’s $20 bill. The Bank of Canada unveiled the new banknote on Thursday during a ceremony in Ottawa. The bill features a linework image of King Charles III executed by Canadian engraver Jorge Rodrigo Peral based on a 2024 photograph taken by Andrew Parsons, a British photographer, for the currency. The King’s portrait is displayed vertically on the bill. Charles became King after the 2022 death of his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, whose time on the $20 banknote has now exceeded the length of her record-breaking 70-year reign. Work on the new banknote began on the day of King Charles’ coronation, May 6, 2023, according to a Bank of Canada official speaking on background ahead of the unveiling. The Bank of Canada has unveiled the design for the country's newest $20 note, which features King Charles III for the first time. THE CANADIAN PRESS The back of the bill features an image of the Canadian National Vimy Memorial in France. About 3,600 Canadians died at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917 during the First World War. Circulation of the new $20 bill is scheduled to begin next February. It’s the second vertical banknote produced by the Bank of Canada after the $10 note, which features Viola Desmond, a civil-rights pioneer and businesswoman from Nova Scotia. It was unveiled in 2018. Since 1937, when King George VI first appeared on the $20 banknote early in his reign, all of Canada’s $20 bills have featured likenesses of Canada’s monarchs. As an eight-year-old princess, the future Queen Elizabeth was first featured on the Bank of Canada’s inaugural $20 banknote in 1935, before her portrait was replaced by her father’s. She returned to the $20 bill in 1954, after ascending to the throne in 1952. “Her image became one of the most recognizable on our currency for generations of Canadians. Today, this tradition continues with His Majesty King Charles III, who is appearing on a Canadian banknote for the first time,” Governor-General Louise Arbour told the unveiling ceremony on Thursday. Ms. Arbour said Canadian banknotes are more than…