Catalog
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| Issuer | Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND AT BRIDGETOWN BARBADOS ONE HUNDRED BARBADOS DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £20-16-8 ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS IN BARBADOS CURRENCY BEING THE EQUIVALENT OF TWENTY POUNDS SIXTEEN SHILLINGS AND EIGHT PENCE REDEEMABLE ONLY IN BARBADOS GENERAL MANAGER SPECIMEN |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in orange with a large central heraldic vignette of the Royal Arms of Canada supported by a lion and a unicorn, set within an ornate guilloche border. Denomination panels at upper left and right read 'ONE HUNDRED BARBADOS DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £20-16-8', repeated symmetrically. The bank name 'THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA' appears in bold lettering along the lower margin, with the ABNC imprint at the foot; cancel punch holes are visible on this specimen example. |
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| Comments |
The Royal Bank of Canada operated branches throughout the Caribbean from the early twentieth century, and this note reflects the awkward transitional moment when Barbados was moving away from sterling-denominated accounting. The dual denomination — 100 Barbados Dollars expressed alongside its sterling equivalent of 20 Pounds 16 Shillings 8 Pence — was not decorative; it was a legal and commercial necessity for a colony where both systems ran concurrently in trade and contract settlement.
American Bank Note Company's Ottawa facility handled the job. By 1920 that plant had been printing Canadian chartered bank issues for decades, making it the natural choice for a Canadian-chartered bank's colonial branch currency.