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1 Dollar/Piastre
| Issuer | Union Bank, Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1838 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | MONTREAL LOWER CANADA UNION BANK ONE DOLLAR UNE PIASTRE Pay on demand ONE DOLLAR Banque de l'Union à Montréal paye sur demande UNE PIASTRE |
| Reverse description | The reverse is executed entirely in fine lathe-work guilloche, with a symmetrical arrangement of nine large circular rosette medallions set in three rows of three, interspersed with small vignettes including a stag's head and other rural motifs. The words STEEL PLATE are inscribed in open letterpress characters across the upper and lower central areas of the design, referencing the engraving method used. The overall impression is a densely patterned, pale intaglio composition with no colour underprint. |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Montreal was chartered in 1865 — which makes a note attributed to it in 1838 an immediate anomaly. There were several short-lived institutions operating in Lower Canada under similar names during the rebellions period, and misattributions in early Canadian provincial banking paper are common enough that the Pick reference here warrants scrutiny before any firm provenance claim is made.
Lower Canada in 1838 was in open political crisis, with the second Patriote uprising suppressed just months prior and martial law recently lifted. Any chartered bank issuing paper in that environment did so under considerable uncertainty about whether the colony's commercial infrastructure would survive the year.