Catalog
10 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of Upper Canada, Kingston |
|---|---|
| Year | 1819-1822 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TEN BANK OF UPPER CANADA promise to pay or bearer TEN dollars on demand out the joint funds of the Association, and no other THE PRESIDENT DIRECTORS & TEN DOLLARS Cash. Pres't. |
| Reverse description | The reverse of this early Canadian chartered bank note is unprinted, left plain as was typical of private bank issues of the period. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Upper Canada, Kingston should not be confused with the later and more prominent Bank of Upper Canada chartered in York (Toronto) in 1821. The Kingston institution was a short-lived private venture operating without formal legislative sanction — one of several quasi-banks that attempted to fill the severe credit vacuum in Upper Canada before proper banking legislation was in place. Its notes circulated on the strength of local merchant confidence alone.
The attribution "Printed: Canada" for an 1819 issue warrants some skepticism. Sophisticated intaglio printing capacity in Upper Canada at that date was essentially nonexistent, and early colonial bank notes were almost invariably produced in the United States or Britain. The printing origin deserves closer examination of any surviving examples.