Museum objects
0 shown · 5 cited but not shown. An image only appears here if it is openly
licensed and confirmed to depict the object we claim. Otherwise we cite it and link you to
the museum — we would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
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1964.0088.00867.000
Bank of Canada Museum
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
View it at the museum ↗
Dominion of Canada $1 Note (1870)
Bank of Canada Museum · 1964.0088.00867.000 · July 1, 1870
An early Dominion of Canada dollar note, issued just three years after Confederation.
Everyone assumed this note was just a copy of American or British money — it wasn't. Isabella was quietly building her own identity from her very first printing.
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1974.0151.00213.000
Bank of Canada Museum
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
View it at the museum ↗
Canada Victoria 20 Cents Coin (1871)
Bank of Canada Museum · 1974.0151.00213.000 · 1871
An early Canadian silver coin bearing the portrait of Queen Victoria.
A coin with a British queen's face, but Canadian words and Canadian purpose — Isabella's split identity started on day one.
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1976.0102.00005.000
Bank of Canada Museum
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
View it at the museum ↗
British Columbia $20 Gold Pattern Coin (1862)
Bank of Canada Museum · 1976.0102.00005.000 · 1862
A rare pattern coin proposed for the colony of British Columbia before it joined Confederation.
Before Canada existed as we know it, this gold coin imagined a completely different currency future — a road Isabella never took, but almost did.
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RMGC-object-40198
Royal Museums Greenwich
image failed verification (wrong object) — cited, not shown
View it at the museum ↗
Hudson's Bay Company Made Beaver Token
Royal Museums Greenwich · RMGC-object-40198 · 19th century
A trade token used by the Hudson's Bay Company, valued in units equivalent to one prime beaver pelt.
Long before Isabella had a face or a number, Canada's economy ran on beaver pelts — this little brass token is the ancestor of everything she'd become.
A History of the Canadian Dollar (Bank of Canada)
Bank of Canada · dollar_book · 2012 edition
The Bank of Canada's own comprehensive published history of the Canadian dollar.
This book is Isabella's own autobiography, written by the institution that has managed her identity since Confederation.
Primary sources
The documents themselves. We link and quote — that is citation, and it needs no licence.
A History of the Canadian Dollar
official_publication · 2012 · James Powell, Bank of Canada · Bank of Canada
Comprehensive official history of Canadian currency from Confederation to modern times.
The Bank of Canada's full official history book about the Canadian dollar.
Bank of Canada Museum Collection Search Portal
database · Ongoing · Bank of Canada Museum · Bank of Canada Museum
Searchable database of over 130,000 numismatic and financial artifacts.
A giant searchable online database of Canadian money artifacts, with over 130,000 items.
Fathers of Confederation Records
archive · 1867 · Library and Archives Canada · Library and Archives Canada
Historical government records related to Canada's founding Confederation and early monetary decisions.
Government records from when Canada was founded, related to its earliest decisions about money.
McCord Stewart Museum Collections
museum_record · Ongoing · McCord Stewart Museum · McCord Stewart Museum, Montreal
Public collection of Canadian historical artifacts, including economic and monetary history items, with explicit public-domain policy.
A Montreal museum's public collection of Canadian historical items, free to use and share.
Royal Museums Greenwich: Hudson's Bay Company Token
museum_record · Ongoing · Royal Museums Greenwich · Royal Museums Greenwich
Museum documentation of the Made Beaver trade token used by the Hudson's Bay Company.
A British museum's record of the old fur-trading tokens used in early Canada.
Where this money travelled
Isabella's dollar emerged from Confederation-era Canada, shaped by fur trade economics, gold rushes, and a careful balance between British and American monetary influence.
Ottawa (Parliament)45.4215, -75.6972
Cariboo Gold Rush Region, BC52.9784, -121.9268
Montreal (McCord Museum)45.5019, -73.5674
Nova Scotia45.0000, -63.0000
Newfoundland48.9517, -56.4593
What we don't know
The page no competitor will build.
- 5 of 5 objects on this page are cited but not shown — either the rights are not cleared, or we could not verify that an available image really depicts the object. We would rather show you nothing than show you the wrong thing.
