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1 Dollar
| Issuer | Bank of Clifton |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is executed in fine intaglio engraving and carries a central vignette of the Suspension Bridge at Niagara Falls flanked by industrial and pastoral landscape vignettes in the upper register, with numeral '1' counters at upper left and upper right within ornate lathe-work frames. A seated allegorical female figure with an oar or staff occupies the lower right, while a second landscape vignette appears at the lower left. The issuer's name 'THE BANK OF CLIFTON' is set in bold letterpress across the centre, with the denomination 'ONE DOLLAR' overprinted in red, and the text 'PROVINCE OF CANADA' arching across the top. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PROVINCE OF CANADA THE BANK OF CLIFTON ONE DOLLAR Will pay to Bearer on demand ONE DOLLAR at the Office of the Bank here CLIFTON For the Bank of Clifton. ONE MILLION DOLLARS INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Clifton was a short-lived New Jersey institution operating in the years immediately before the Civil War — a period when hundreds of small state-chartered banks issued their own notes with minimal federal oversight. The American Bank Note Company, by 1859 one of the most technically accomplished security printers in the world, supplied engraved notes to hundreds of such clients, producing work of genuine quality for banks that would sometimes fail within months of opening.
Whether the Bank of Clifton ever achieved meaningful circulation before the National Banking Acts of 1863–64 effectively killed off state bank currency is difficult to establish. Notes from obscure New Jersey issuers of this vintage are frequently found in collector condition rather than worn, suggesting they were redeemed or retired early.