Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
1 Dollar
| Issuer | Bank of British North America, Victoria |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Cotton paper |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER VICTORIA ONE DOLLAR Nº 251 Victoria 1st December 1859 Vancouvers Island DOLLAR |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | P#S396a - 1.12.1859 P#S396p1 - Proof. 18xx P#S396p2 - Proof. 2.12.1867 P#S396s - Specimen. 1.12.1859 |
| Comments |
The Bank of British North America was a London-chartered institution operating branches across British North America, and the Victoria branch opened just as the Fraser River Gold Rush was transforming the region from a quiet fur-trade outpost into a chaotic boomtown. This note was issued into that environment — one where American gold dust, Hudson's Bay Company scrip, and U.S. greenbacks all competed for acceptance alongside British colonial paper.
Pick 396 is among the earliest locally-issued banknotes from what would become British Columbia, predating Confederation by over a decade. The colony of British Columbia itself wasn't formally proclaimed until August 1858, making this 1859 date extraordinarily early for institutional paper currency from the Pacific Northwest.