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2 Dollars
| Issuer | Colonial Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is engraved in a classic mid-19th-century intaglio style, with the bank title 'Colonial Bank of Canada' in bold serif lettering across the centre. To the left, a pastoral vignette shows resting figures in a wooded landscape, while to the right a portrait of a young woman is set within an oval frame. Large ornate numeral '2' counters appear at each corner, with a central guilloche rosette bearing the denomination numeral, and the text 'CAPITAL $2,000,000' and 'INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT' printed in the border areas. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is largely plain, printed on aged cream-toned cotton paper with no central vignette or decorative motif. A handwritten endorsement and a circular ink stamp are visible toward the right side, consistent with period banking practice for notes in circulation. |
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| Comments |
The Colonial Bank of Canada had a short and troubled existence. Chartered in 1856 under the Province of Canada, it never achieved the foothold its promoters intended, and by the early 1860s it had collapsed — making any surviving paper from the 1859 series genuinely rare by circumstance rather than design. Notes did not accumulate in hoards because the bank failed before its currency achieved wide distribution.
The American Bank Note Company was already the dominant security printer for Canadian chartered banks by this date, producing work of consistently high technical quality from its New York shops. ABNCo's involvement here is unsurprising, but worth noting given how briefly the Colonial Bank operated — very few institutions got less return on their printing investment.