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1 Dollar
| Issuer | Macdonald & Co., Bankers |
|---|---|
| Year | 1863 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1 Dollar |
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| Obverse description | Black letterpress on white paper. Central vignette shows a royal coat of arms flanked by the firm's name "MACDONALD & CO." in large serif type and "BANKERS" below. Corner medallions bear the numeral "1"; a female portrait vignette appears at lower left and a figure at lower right. Text reads "Victoria, Vancouvers Island" with a manuscript promise-to-pay inscription and a handwritten signature below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MACDONALD & CO. BANKERS Victoria VANCOUVERS ISLAND ESTABLISHED 1859 NUMBER We promise to pay the Bearer on demand at our Office here the sum of One Dollar Value received with charges |
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| Comments |
Macdonald & Co. operated as a private bank in Victoria during the Fraser River and Cariboo gold rush years, issuing notes that circulated primarily among miners, merchants, and trading houses in the colony. Private bank issues from Vancouver's Island are extraordinarily scarce — the colonial government was chronically ambivalent about paper money, and the dominant instrument of exchange remained gold dust weighed at the counter.
The firm collapsed in 1864, less than a year after this note was issued, in a broader contraction that swept out several Victoria merchant banks simultaneously. Redemption was incomplete, leaving an unknown quantity of notes outstanding.