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10 Piastres / Dollars = 50 Shillings
| Issuer | British Army |
|---|---|
| Year | 1814 |
| Type | Pattern or trial banknote |
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| Obverse description | Plain paper note issued by the Army Bill Office, Quebec, dated March 1814, with text arranged in letterpress across the face. A repeating side border of 'Bon' text runs vertically along the left margin. The central text states 'TEN DOLLARS, redeemable at this Office, by Government Bills of Exchange on London, at Thirty Days Sight,' with the upper legend reading 'Bon pour DIX Piastres' and the lower reading 'Dix Piastres. Fifty Shillings.' A manuscript signature appears below the 'By Order of the Commander of the Forces' authorisation line. |
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| Variants | P#S120E - 3-1814 P#S120E - 8-1814 |
| Comments |
Army Bill Office notes were Canada's first functioning government paper currency, issued from 1813 to fund British military operations during the War of 1812. This particular denomination — the awkward tri-valuation of 10 piastres, dollars, and shillings — reflects the currency chaos of Lower Canada at the time, where Spanish dollars, Halifax currency, and local piastres circulated simultaneously with no fixed equivalence agreed upon by the general public.
The 1814 issues were a second-series revision; earlier Army Bills had faced counterfeiting problems serious enough to prompt redesign. Redemption after the war was handled efficiently by the British government, which actually honored these notes in full — an outcome rare enough that it permanently boosted public confidence in paper instruments across British North America.