BC-23b on a 1937 $5 bill

I have a 1937 $5 bill with BC-23-b on the BCS graded plastic sleeve and a 1954 $5 bill with BC-396a wtitten on the plastic sleeve what do those codes mean and are they somewhere on the bill? Thanks.

You'll probably get a better, quicker answer posting in the banknote forum. This one is for coins.

https://en.numista.com/forum/forum18.html

Hello,

The “BC-xx” catalogue numbers belong to the Charlton catalogue of Canadian banknotes, as seen here:

https://en.numista.com/catalogue/catalogue.php?id=959

BC-23b would indicate a 1937 $5 note with signatures Gordon/Towers:

N#201719

BC-39a refers to the modified 1954 $5 note with signatures Beattie/Coyne:

N#201778

Hope this helps.

Yes it does thanks.

@DoubleEggbert56 pretty much nails it.

The other thing is that the Charlton code BC-23b stands for  stands for Bank of Canada & the “b” indicates the 2nd signature combo for that series (Gordon Towers 1937 $5.00).  For BC-39a the “a” indicates the 1st signature combo for that series (or “Coyne Towers” 1954 $5.00).  There were 2 printers for the 1954 series which can either be Canadian Banknote Co (CBN) or the British American Banknote Co (BABN). The printer names are seen imprinted in the lower frame of the 1954 series (& below the designs for the 1937 series). 

Pick (or the SCWPM) gave two separate codes for the $5.00 notes P-77 (CBN) & P-78 for the BABN notes. Charlton designated the 2 printers with an “i” so that BABN notes has no “i” at the end of the code while the CBN printed versions have the “i” at the end of the code (so your note is likely a BABN/P-78 note). 

Interesting learning,thanks.