Catalog
10 Dollars
| Issuer | Exchange Bank of Toronto |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central vignette of a sailing vessel under full steam on open water, rendered in fine intaglio engraving. The denomination numeral '10' appears in an ornate guilloche roundel at the upper left, with a matching stylized '10' at the upper right, and the word 'TEN' in bold letterpress at the lower left. A seated allegorical figure vignette occupies the lower left cartouche, with the issuer's name 'THE EXCHANGE BANK OF TORONTO' and the text 'Will pay TEN DOLLARS to the bearer' inscribed across the centre, dated Toronto, May 1st, 1855, with the header 'SECURED BY DEPOSIT OF PROVINCIAL SECURITIES / UPPER CANADA' along the top margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SECURED BY DEPOSIT OF PROVINCIAL SECURITIES UPPER CANADA THE EXCHANGE BANK OF TORONTO Will pay TEN DOLLARS to the bearer Toronto May 1st 1855 TEN |
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| Comments |
The Exchange Bank of Toronto was a short-lived institution, chartered in 1855 and gone within a few years — which directly explains the scarcity of any surviving paper from this issuer. Notes from small Canadian free-banking-era charters of this period were often printed in limited quantities before the bank failed, was absorbed, or simply never achieved meaningful circulation.
Canadian-printed issues from the mid-1850s are comparatively rare in the Pick catalogue; most Ontario chartered banks of the period contracted engravers in New York or Montreal. A domestically printed attribution here is worth scrutiny against physical evidence.