ARCHIVE
May 1989
Student demonstrators unveil the 33-foot-high Goddess of Democracy
statue shortly before their Tiananmen Square standoff with the Chinese
army. Former White House aide Oliver North is convicted on three of
nine charges, all of which are overturned on appeal. Scientists find the
wreck of the German battleship Bismark (sunk in 1941) 600 miles west of
Brest, France. The SkyDome (now known as Rogers Centre) opens in
Toronto. Batman becomes the highest-grossing film based on a DC
comic book, until the 2008 release of The Dark Knight.
Passing the buck in Ottawa: Goodbye $1 bill
April 20 marked the end of a printing specialty as Canadian Bank
Note Company (CBN) printed the last Canadian dollar bill. For
weeks, proud citizens across the country visited their banks to pick
up trimmed press sheets of dollar bills. The Bank of Canada
issued this country’s last dollar bills on June 30, 1989, while the
300-million bills in circulation were expected to be phased out within
the next two years. According to the May 1989 cover story in
PrintAction, “they are being replaced by the ‘controversial loonie,’
an 11-sided gold-coloured coin that has already been in circulation
two years.”
Printing of the dollar bill represented as much as 10 percent of CBN’s
production, which at the time also included the secure production of
securities, foreign currencies, and travelers cheques. Headquartered
in Ottawa, 112-year-old CBN continues as one of the world’s premium security printers, employing over 1,000 people worldwide
amid its four divisions: Shareholder Services, Lottery, Identification
and Payment Systems.
Pictured (left to right): Douglas Arends, president of Canadian Bank Note,
Shirley Arends, corporate secretary, Jack Kuiack, VP of manufacturing,
and Sandra MacNeil, press examiner.
Modern Canadian Bank Note
Over the past few years, Canadian Bank Note has been leveraging printing to grow its systems-level business, as detailed
in its recent deal to be the chief-provider of machine readable
passports across CARICOM – described as an organization of
15 Caribbean nations and dependencies. On the home front,
CBN in April received the Élan Award (presented by the International Card Manufacturers Association) for its production of
Nunavut Driver’s License, beating second-place U.S. Passport
Card and third-place Guanajuato Driver’s License.
Best Gift &
Promotional Card:
Walgreen’s Toy Card,
manufactured by
CPI Card Group of
Colorado
Judges’ Choice: MTV
co-branded credit card,
manufactured by China’s
Huangshi G&D Wanda
Secuirty Card Ltd.
Best Identification
Card: Nunavut
Driver’s License,
manufactured by
Canadian Bank
Note of Ottawa
Unique Innovation:
Walmart Merry
Christmas velour card,
manufacturered by
Premier Card
Solutions of Illinois
People’s Choice: First
Data Go-Tag Sticker,
manufactured by CPI
Card Group.
