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15 Pence; 30 Sous The Champlain and St Lawrence Rail Road
| Issuer | Champlain & St. Lawrence Rail Road |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of an early 1830s steam locomotive hauling bales of cargo and open passenger cars, rendered in fine intaglio. A circular Hispanic (Spanish colonial) coin vignette occupies the left panel, with a matching denomination counter at right. Letterpress text surrounds the central train vignette with bilingual English and French legends. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is the showing-through impression of the obverse design on unprinted cotton paper, with no distinct reverse printing. The note is blank on this side. |
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| Comments |
Canadian railways issuing their own scrip was a practical response to the chronic small-change shortage that plagued Upper and Lower Canada throughout the 1830s. The Champlain & St. Lawrence, incorporated in 1832 and operational by 1836 as the first steam railway in Canada, had immediate commercial reasons to keep transactions moving smoothly at its terminus and along its route — waiting for adequate government coinage was not an option.
Rawdon, Wright & Hatch were among the most technically accomplished security printers operating in North America at this period, later becoming a founding constituent of the American Bank Note Company in 1858.