Catalog
10 Dollars
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of the Midland District, Kingston |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is engraved in a classic early Victorian style, centred on the large cursive title 'The Commercial Bank' with the subsidiary text 'Midland District' and the promise to pay 'Fifty Shillings' in manuscript-style lettering below. Two ornate guilloche medallions bearing the numeral '10' flank the upper corners, while a central vignette above the bank title depicts an eagle with spread wings amid foliate scrollwork; a circular vignette of a sailing vessel appears at the lower right, and a standing figure within a wreath occupies the lower left. The inscription 'Chartered by act of Parliament' appears along the upper margin, with place and date lines for Kingston completed in manuscript. |
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| Reverse description | The reverse is essentially plain, printed on unadorned cream-white cotton paper with no central design or vignette. Faint impressions and fold lines are visible across the surface, consistent with the note having been issued or handled; no text, underprint, or decorative border is present on this side. |
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The Commercial Bank of the Midland District was chartered in 1831 and operated out of Kingston, Upper Canada — one of a clutch of provincially chartered private banks that issued their own notes before Confederation and the eventual consolidation of note-issuing authority under the Dominion. This particular note dates to 1854, a period when the bank was functioning competitively but under persistent pressure from larger Montreal-based institutions.
The "S" suffix in the Pick reference denotes a specimen, which for pre-Confederation Canadian chartered bank issues is frequently the only surviving form — issued examples from small-city Ontario banks of this vintage were redeemed, destroyed, or simply lost to time. The Commercial Bank itself failed in 1868, one of the more significant chartered bank collapses of the pre-National Banking era in Canada.