Just Picked This Up In The UK Cheap: 1954 Devils Face $20

It looks to be somewhere between VF and EF. EF has a book value of $80.

Here's a link to a price list http://www.coinsandcanada.com/bank-...ce&id_cat=21
Yours in the more common Beattie/Coyne with no special prefix.

I would guess EF-AU but it's hard to tell from pictures. Here's an excerpt from a paper grading guide.

• AU (About Uncirculated) - An almost perfect note with only very minor handling. May have a bank counting fold at a corner or one light fold through the center. A note in this condition cannot be creased, a crease being a hard fold which has "broken" the surface of the note. Paper is clean and corners are not rounded.
• XF (Extremely Fine) - A very attractive note with only light handling. May have a maximum of three light folds or one strong crease. Paper is clean and corners may show only the slightest evidence of rounding. There may also be the slightest sign of wear where a fold meets the edge.
• VF (Very Fine) - An attractive note, but with more evidence of handling and wear. May have several folds both vertically and horizontally. Paper may have minimal dirt but is still relatively crisp and not floppy. There are no tears into the border area, but may show slight wear. Corners also show wear but not full rounding.

This issue from the Bank of Canada was prepared following the death of King George VI in 1952. This was the 1st issue to use Canadian landscapes instead of the fantasy type scenes from the past.
On this particular issue, a new portrait of Queen Elizabeth II was commissioned. When viewed a certain way, the highlighted areas of the Queen's hair produce the illusion of a "Devil's Face" behind her ear. This created an almost instant controversy, and although several theories arose, it was not an error or a prank but a simple illusion taken from the original photograph.

Devil's Face Modified
Modifications were made to the highlights in the hair and the series was re-issued as the 1954 "Modified" Series in 1957.
In 1952 the Bank of Canada commissioned George Gundersen, of the British American Bank Note Company, to design the forthcoming issue of bank notes, scheduled for 1954. In executing the design, Mr. Gundersen based his engraving of Queen Elisabeth II on a portrait photo taken by Peter-Dirk Uys, one of Her Majesty's official photographers. Everything unfolded as it should have, following all of the normal procedures. The bills were printed and put in circulation. Then, in 1954, a citizen's complaint alarmed the Bank of Canada; the outline of a devil's face was visible in the Queen's hair behind her ear.
Heavens! Mr. Gundersen, the engraver, was the first suspect. He denied the accusations, claiming he had worked from the photograph issued to him. But someone had to be guilty of the crime. Some hypotheses suggested the work of a prankster employed at the Bank of Canada. French-Canadian nationalists or IRA sympathizers were also suspected. Time went by and the scandal faded for lack of proof, as the original photographic negative could not be found.
What is now called the Devil's Face could equally have been an involuntary act. Just a bad hair day! But in the end, Mr. Gundersen would modify the portrait of the Queen by shadowing out the Little Devil and new bills would be printed. The Devil's Face bills would be pulled by the Banks, stamped CANCELLED on the front and marked with the seal of the institution that cancelled it on the back.
In 1984 that the scandal re-erupted with the death of the photographer and the recovery of the negatives from the 1952 photo shoot, events which coincided with the publication of Peter-Dirk Uys‚ memoirs (Uys, Peter-Dirk, Her Majesty's Image - The Life Of The Official Photographer Of Elisabeth The Second, Yellow Sheets Books, London (UK), 1985). In his account, Mister Uys writes openly of his homosexuality and his long relationship with John Rietveld, Her Majesty‚s hairdresser from 1947 to 1962. Even more surprising is the revelation that Uys flirted with certain circles of initiates before holding his job at Buckingham Palace. We learn in the book that he was one of Aleister Crowley's (an eccentric, writer and devil-worshiper) disciples, as well as Kenneth Anger's (a photographer and filmmaker) lover during the 1940's, just before his final dedication to the trade of portrait photographer.

With the noticeable horizontal and vertical creases , and counting crease in the lower right corner (face side) , this note would not grade higher than EF, if you notice more creases in it then it might drop to a VF+.

I haven't got my new glasses yet..
But, it looks EF-AU to me.

sorry guys, your eyes are fine, thought I saw a crease starting at the right side on the back in line with the N in twenty (just a flick) and ending by the T in vingt on the left. Guess I shouldn't try to grade bills that aren't in hand.

OK.......so made the financial error of paying for a pretty low value note to be graded....and the result was....drum roll, PMG40
Better stick to coins.

I see no light folds at all and as I have dipped my toe in notes and found the water far too cold I will stick to coins. Having said that, I distributed some flyers asking to buy coins at my local flea market/car boot sale and got a call back. This elderly man wants me to go and see him about some Japanese notes. They have been locked away for over 40 years and are said to be in super condition. I know very little about notes. I am going to use my digital camera and take some scans and perhaps post them on the forum somewhere to see if they have any value.