Catalog
1 Dollar = 5 Shillings
| Issuer | Commercial Bank M.D. (Midland District), Kingston |
|---|---|
| Year | 1846-1854 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central vignette of a seated allegorical female figure resting beside a cornucopia and produce, flanked on the left by a standing male figure in rural attire and on the right by a sailor. The bank title 'COMMERCIAL BANK M.D.' is engraved in bold letterpress across the upper portion, with the denomination 'FIVE SHILLINGS' in a bold panel at centre. The lower margin carries capital stock inscriptions and two manuscript signature lines, with 'Kingston' named as the place of issue. |
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| Obverse lettering | COMMERCIAL BANK M.D. FIVE SHILLINGS Promises to Pay on demand for value received to bearer Currency at the Banking House in Kingston CAPITAL $2,000,000 CAPITAL £500,000 |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of the Midland District was one of several Upper Canadian chartered banks operating under the currency duality that persisted in the Province of Canada well into the 1850s — pounds, shillings, and dollars coexisted legally, forcing issuers to denominate notes in both systems simultaneously. The dual inscription here is not decorative; it was a practical necessity for a merchant population that calculated in sterling while increasingly transacting in dollars.
The bank itself collapsed in 1887, decades after this series, following a crisis of bad railway loans. Notes from the 1846–1854 window predate Confederation by over twenty years and represent the chartered banking free-issue period before the Dominion imposed tighter federal controls on private note circulation.