Catalog
100 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque d'Hochelaga |
|---|---|
| Year | 1911 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 100 Piastres |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed in dark green and black intaglio on a fine guilloche underprint. At centre, a tall monument vignette — identified as the Maisonneuve Monument in Montreal — rises against a dramatic sky, with a figure atop carrying a standard. To the left, an elaborate oval cartouche bears the Canadian Dominion coat of arms with the inscription PUISSANCE DU CANADA, surrounded by intricate lathe-work borders. To the right, the bank name BANQUE D'HOCHELAGA and the numeral 100 are set within an ornate guilloche frame with a large dollar-sign motif interlaced through the numerals. |
| Reverse lettering | PUISSANCE DU CANADA BANQUE D'HOCHELAGA 100 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, OTTAWA |
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| Comments |
The Banque d'Hochelaga was a Montreal-based French-Canadian institution, founded in 1874 to serve a francophone commercial community largely excluded from the Anglo-dominated Bank of Montreal and its peers. By 1911 it was a mid-sized regional bank with real ambitions — it would eventually be absorbed into what became the Banque Canadienne Nationale in 1924.
The American Bank Note Company's Ottawa plant handled much of the chartered bank printing for Canada in this period, operating under Dominion government supervision. High-denomination chartered bank notes like this 100 Piastres — the French-language designation used alongside "Dollars" on Hochelaga issues — circulated in limited numbers and were disproportionately subject to redemption and destruction, making survivors genuinely uncommon.