Catalog
10 Shillings
| Issuer | Public Treasury, Island of Saint John (now Prince Edward Island) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1790 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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| Obverse description | Plain typeset note printed on laid paper, with a simple decorative border of repeated ornamental devices running along all four edges. The central text body, set in italic letterpress, states the legal tender obligation of the bill for discharge of duties, taxes, and debts payable at the Public Treasury of the Island, by virtue of an Act of the General Assembly passed the twentieth day of November 1790. Three manuscript signatures appear in the lower portion, with the denomination restated in the lower left as "Ten Shillings." The left and right margins carry the printed warnings "Island of Saint John" and "Death to counterfeit" respectively. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse appears plain, without printed design or lettering, consistent with colonial-era treasury issues of this period. |
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| Comments |
Saint John's Island — renamed Prince Edward Island in 1799 — operated its own treasury note system during the late colonial period largely because coin was perpetually scarce in the Gulf of St. Lawrence settlements. This 10 Shillings note from 1790 predates the renaming by nearly a decade and is among the earliest paper instruments attributable to what would become one of Canada's smallest provinces.
The Public Treasury issues of this period are genuinely rare survivors. Colonial paper in the Maritime region suffered badly from humidity, and redemption drives in the early nineteenth century pulled most of it out of circulation. Pick 148 seldom appears at auction.