Catalog
100 Dollars
| Issuer | Canadian Bank of Commerce, Toronto |
|---|---|
| Year | 1888-1912 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central intaglio vignette of a seated allegorical female figure, rendered in fine line engraving, surrounded by scientific and mercantile instruments including a globe and books. The bank title THE CANADIAN BANK OF COMMERCE arcs across the upper portion in bold letterpress, with TORONTO and a manuscript date above. Ornate lathe-work guilloche panels in orange and black frame the denomination numeral 100 on both left and right sides, with two serial numbers printed in red and two signature lines below the central vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in a uniform dark green intaglio, centred on a detailed architectural vignette of the Canadian Bank of Commerce head office building in Toronto, flanked by two large rampant griffin figures on ornate pedestals. Denomination panels bearing the numeral 100 appear at the upper left and right within intricate lathe-work borders, with the bank name split across the upper field as THE CANADIAN and BANK OF COMMERCE at the foot. |
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| Comments |
The Canadian Bank of Commerce was one of the dominant chartered banks operating under the Bank Act of 1871, which permitted private institutions to issue their own currency — a system that persisted until the Bank of Canada assumed sole note-issuing authority in 1935. The $100 denomination sat at the upper practical limit of chartered bank circulation; notes of this value were almost entirely instruments of interbank settlement and large commercial transactions, rarely passing through retail hands.
The American Bank Note Company operated a branch plant in Ottawa from 1866, handling much of Canada's chartered bank printing work domestically rather than routing orders through the New York parent. The Ottawa facility produced work of comparable quality to New York output, though paper sourcing occasionally differed.
Survivors across this date range are scarce at any grade — $100 chartered bank notes were frequently cancelled by perforation or overprint upon redemption rather than simply destroyed, and cancelled examples are the more common encounter.