100 Dollars Canadian Bank of Commerce

The Canadian Bank of Commerce was one of the last private chartered banks still issuing its own currency when the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 finally ended that practice. This 1921 note predates that transition by over a decade, issued during a period when Canada's chartered banks retained full note-issuing authority under the Bank Act — a system that had functioned, with periodic revisions, since Confederation.

At the $100 denomination, circulation was limited almost by definition. These moved between businesses and institutions, not through ordinary hands, which means surviving examples often show surprisingly light wear — though counting-house folds and file stamps are common on high-value chartered bank notes of this period.

Printed by the Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa, which had held a dominant position in Canadian security printing since the late nineteenth century.