Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Viola Desmond is the first Canadian woman to appear on the face of a banknote.

A Canadian $10 bill has won the top prize in an international banknote competition.

The bill, featuring Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond, beat 15 other banknotes to win the International Bank Note Society award.

The Bank of Canada won the award over new currency issued by Switzerland, Norway, Russia and the Solomon Islands.

Desmond became the first female Canadian to be featured prominently on a banknote.

Queen Elizabeth II, who is the most commonly depicted person on paper money around the world, has long been depicted on Canadian currency.

In 2004, women were featured on the back of a $50 Canadian general circulation banknote, including a group who campaigned for women's suffrage in the country.

Desmond, a black businesswoman from Nova Scotia, stood at the forefront of Canada's early civil rights movement when she refused to vacate a whites-only area of a theatre in 1946.

The back of the $10 note depicts the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

The new vertical format bill dominated the voting at the awards, said the International Bank Note Society in a release.

Image copyright Courtesy International Bank Note Society Image caption The $10 Viola Desmond note (centre) beat competition from Russia (left) and Venezuela (right)

"Incorporating the latest in technological standards, the bold security features are easy to check and difficult to counterfeit," the release said.

The organisation considers the artistic merit, design, use of colour, contrast, balance and security features of each nominated bank note.

There were 150 new bank notes released worldwide last year, though only 10% "were of sufficiently new design" to be nominated for the award.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption Money's familiar face: why hasn't the Queen's portrait been updated on England's new banknotes?

Canada last won the award in 2004 for its $20 note, and has placed second between 2011 and 2013 and finished third last year.

Switzerland won the last two years - for a 10 franc note released in 2017 and for a 50 franc note released in 2016.

This year Switzerland made second place with its 200 franc note, which features a human hand with fingers pointing in the three spatial dimensions in which matter expands.

It was followed by Norway's 500 Kroner note featuring a famous rescue vessel built in 1893.

International Bank Note Society is a non-profit education organisation that works to advance the study of worldwide banknotes and paper currencies.</s>When the Bank of Canada unveiled a new $10 bill last year, it was both the first regularly-circulating note depicting a Canadian woman and the first to be vertically-oriented.

Now the bill has been voted the world’s best banknote by the International Bank Note Society judged on artistic merit, design, and security features from among 15 nominated from more than 150 new notes issued worldwide in 2018.

Ottawa “dominated” voting, taking the Bank Note of the Year Award over entries including Russia’s 100 ruble note with a soccer theme and the Solomon Islands’ $40 featuring an image of a man blowing conch shell.

Desmond was picked for the new note by Finance Minister Bill Morneau after an open call to Canadians to nominate an iconic Canadian woman. The Black Nova Scotian businesswoman refused to leave a whites-only area of a movie theatre in 1946 and was jailed, convicted and fined then took the fight against segregation to the courts.

On the back of the note printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company and featuring “bold” anti-counterfeiting features is the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

The winner of the inaugural award in 2004 was a $20 note featuring a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and artwork by Haida artist Bill Reid on the back of the note.</s>Canada's newest version of its $10 bill, a vertical format note released late last year and featuring a female civil rights activist, has won an international competition for innovative currency.

The Canadian bill featuring the image of Viola Desmond, a Nova Scotia businesswoman and social justice pioneer, was awarded "Bank Note of the Year Award" for 2018 by the International Bank Note Society.

Desmond is the first Canadian woman to appear on that country's currency. The honor traditionally has been restricted to British royalty, such as Queen Elizabeth II.

The back of the note depicts the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnepeg, Manitoba.

The new polymer-containing bank note is purple and "just fractionally larger than neighboring United States currency bills," said the IBNS announcement. "Incorporating the latest in technological standards, the bold security features are easy to check and difficult to counterfeit."

"The organisation considers the artistic merit, design, use of colour, contrast, balance and security features of each nominated bank note," the BBC reported.

The banknote dominated the competition "almost from the start," the IBNS said. Runners-up included Switzerland's 200 Franc note, Norway's 500 Kroner, Russia's 100 Ruble, and Solomon Island's 40 dollar bill.

Canada also has confirmed that its next four new notes will adopt the vertical format.

Desmond holds a place in Canadian history similar to civil rights icon Rosa Parks in the United States.

In 1946, Desmond was arrested for refusing to sit in a blacks-only section of a Nova Scotia movie theater. She was fined "for attempting to defraud the provincial government" on the 1-cent differential price charged between the theater's black and white sections. She received posthumous free pardon in 2010.</s>For the first time in nearly 15 years, a Canadian banknote has been named the best in the world.

The International Bank Note Society has recognized our new $10 bill as the winner of the 2018 Bank Note of the Year Award.

It was selected from a list of 15 finalists, including entries from Argentina, Armenia, Australia and Bolivia. The award is voted on by members of the IBNS.
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The bill features human rights icon Viola Desmond on its front and the exterior of the Canadian Museum for Human Rights on its back. Desmond, who is considered a civil rights hero because she refused to leave a whites-only section of a theatre in Nova Scotia in 1946, is the first woman outside the Royal Family to be featured on Canadian currency.

Until the release of the $10 bill, no Canadian banknote had ever had a vertical design. The Bank of Canada says it plans to release vertically oriented $5, $50 and $100 bills in the future. Those banknotes were last updated between 2011 and 2013.

In addition to the design features, the IBNS noted that the bills make good use of innovative technologies and are difficult to counterfeit.

Second place in this year’s competition went to the new 200-franc note from Switzerland. Swiss bills had won the 2017 and 2016 editions of the award. Also finishing in the top five were banknotes from Norway, Russia and the Solomon Islands.

Canada won the inaugural Bank Note of the Year competition in 2004 for the $20 bill released as part of the Bank of Canada’s Canadian Journey series, and finished second behind Kazakhstan in 2011, 2012 and 2013.</s>A Canadian $10 bill featuring Nova Scotia civil rights pioneer Viola Desmond has been named the best in the world.

The International Bank Note Society has announced the Desmond bill won the coveted Bank Note of the Year Award for 2018, beating out top designs from places like Switzerland, Norway, Russia and the Solomon Islands.

In March 2018, the federal government unveiled the vertical banknote design featuring Desmond's portrait and a map of her north-end Halifax neighbourhood. The bill went into circulation in November.

Desmond played a seminal role in Canada's civil rights movement when, on Nov. 8, 1946, she went to see a movie at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S., while her car was getting fixed.

Desmond, 32, was dragged out of the theatre by police and jailed for defiantly sitting in the "whites only" section of the film house. At the time, black people could only sit in the balcony.

Her ensuing legal fight against that injustice helped end segregation in Nova Scotia. In 2010, she was posthumously awarded an apology and a free pardon.

Desmond is often described as Canada's Rosa Parks, even though Desmond's act of defiance happened nine years before Parks refused to give up her seat on an Alabama bus.

Desmond's trailblazing efforts received little attention until recent years, but her legacy is being increasingly recognized. Her name now graces a Halifax Transit harbour ferry, a Canada Post stamp, a commemorative coin, a children's book, and streets named in her honour.

The $10 bill also features an image of Winnipeg's Canadian Museum of Human Rights, as well as part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

According to the International Bank Note Society, there were 150 new banknotes released in 2018 but only 10 per cent of those were considered to be of sufficiently new design to be nominated.

The society said in a news release the Desmond bill was the front-runner from the beginning.

It's not the first time Canada has won. In 2004, Canada won the inaugural Bank Note of the Year Award, placed second three years in a row (2011, 2012 and 2013) and finished in third place last year.

Canadian master engraver Jorge Peral's 2015 design for New Zealand's $5 note also won world's best that year.</s>Canada's new $10 bill, featuring racial equality activist Viola Desmond on the front and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg on the back, has just been named the world's best banknote.#cdnpoli#ViolaDesmondpic.twitter.com/zbro3UphZz</s>Canada’s latest bank note went into circulation in November 2018. The $10 bill features civil rights activist Viola Desmond. It’s the first of our bills to feature a [named] woman other than royalty and it’s also our first vertical bill.

The bill also features an image of Winnipeg’s Canadian Museum of Human Rights, as well as part of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

When I first saw this bill in person, I was struck by how beautiful it is. I was not the only one!

The International Bank Note Society (IBNS) has announced the Desmond bill has won the coveted Bank Note of the Year Award for 2018!

WATCH: Sister of Viola Desmond Gets a Sneak Peak of Her New Bill

There were 150 new banknotes released in 2018 but only 10 per cent of those were considered by the IBNS to be of sufficiently new design to be nominated.

This is not the only time Canada has won this award. In the press release, the IBNS reminded readers that “Canada won the inaugural IBNS Bank Note of the Year Award in 2004, placed second three years in a row (2011, 2012 & 2013) and finished in third place just last year.” See all of the 2018 nominees HERE.

Learn more about Canada’s new $10 by going to the Bank of Canada Museum website.</s>Canada’s redesigned $10 bill has earned the Bank of Canada a Bank Note of the Year Award from the International Bank Note Society (IBNS).

The society’s members selected the vertically-oriented bill out of 15 potential options released by governments across the world in 2018.

The competition came from Mexico’s 500-peso note, Russia’s 100-ruble note, Norway’s 500-kroner note and China’s 50-yuan note, among many others.

The $10 bill, which prominently features Viola Desmond — a Nova Scotia civil rights pioneer and businesswoman — went into circulation in November.

Desmond, who fought for racial equality, is the first Canadian woman to appear on a regularly circulating banknote.

A release from the IBNS says that the bill dominated the voting almost from the start, with the organization stressing the bill’s new vertical orientation and purple colour as its most striking features.

Desmond was selected to be on the bill after an open call for nominations and a public opinion survey on the Bank of Canada website.

Behind Desmond’s portrait, the banknote also shows a map of Halifax’s historic north end, home to one of Canada’s oldest black communities and the area where Desmond grew up.

On Nov. 8, 1946, Desmond was arrested after refusing to leave a whites-only section of the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow, N.S., in an incident that has since become one of the most high-profile cases of racial discrimination in Canadian history.

It would take 63 years for Nova Scotia to issue Desmond a posthumous apology and pardon.

The bill’s reverse features the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg.

READ MORE: The Bank of Canada hid a video game behind its website of the new $10 bill

The Bank of Canada is not a stranger to the IBNS’ Bank Note of the Year Award.

They won the inaugural award in 2004 and placed second three years in a row from 2011 to 2013.

— With files from The Canadian Press</s>HALIFAX — Canada’s new $10 bill featuring Nova Scotia human rights icon Viola Desmond has been named banknote of the year.

The bill, which also features a map of Halifax’s historic north end as well as the Canadian Museum for Human Rights in Winnipeg, was honoured in a vote by the International Bank Note Society.

The society says in a news release that the Desmond bill was a favourite of its voting membership right from the start.

The purple polymer bill was the first vertically oriented banknote issued in Canada.
• Viola Desmond will be first woman other than the Queen featured on Canadian currency
• Bank of Canada releases short list of women who could be featured on next bank note

Desmond is the first black person — and the first non-royal woman — on a regularly circulating Canadian banknote.

The bill marks a growing recognition of Desmond’s refusal to leave the whites-only section of a Nova Scotia movie theatre on Nov. 8, 1946 — nearly a decade before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus in Alabama — and the seminal role it played in Canada’s civil rights movement.

Desmond, a beautician and entrepreneur from north end Halifax who sold her own line of cosmetics, was headed to Sydney, N.S., when her car broke down. Stuck in New Glasgow overnight, she decided to watch a movie at the Roseland Theatre.

The segregated theatre relegated black patrons to the balcony, while floor seating was reserved for whites. Desmond, who was shortsighted and could not see properly from the back, sat in the floor section and refused to leave.

She was dragged out of the theatre by police, arrested, thrown in jail for 12 hours and fined.

It would take 63 years for Nova Scotia to issue Desmond, who died in 1965, a posthumous apology and pardon.

Desmond’s story went largely untold for a half-century, but in recent years she has been featured on a stamp, and her name graces a Halifax harbour ferry. A Toronto park and streets in Montreal and New Glasgow bear her name, and she was inducted into Canada’s Walk of Fame in 2017.

The bank note society also honoured notes from Switzerland, Norway, Russia and Solomon Islands.

The society says 150 new banknotes were released in 2018, but only 10 per cent of them featured sufficiently new designs to be nominated.</s>
The Canadian ten-dollar note, featuring Canadian civil rights activist Viola Desmond, wins the International Bank Note Society award.