10 Dollars

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.