Catalog
2 Dollars / Piastres
| Issuer | Banque du Peuple |
|---|---|
| Year | 1839 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Engraved intaglio note with bilingual text, dated Montreal, 1st October 1839. At left, an oval vignette contains a classical female figure in a pastoral landscape, surrounded by ornate scrollwork; the central vignette presents an allegorical winged female figure with cherubs, flanked by numeral '2' counters at either side. The upper arc carries the issuer legend 'BANQUE DU PEUPLE' above 'LOWER CANADA', with the denomination stated as 'Deux Piastres / Two Dollars' in both French and English, and the printer's imprint 'Danforth & Cousins, New York' at the lower right. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | LOWER CANADA BANQUE DU PEUPLE (À demande) (payez à l'ordre) Deux Piastres Two Dollars On demand pay Two Dollars to order value received Montreal 1st October 1839 Danforth & Cousins, New York |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Peuple was chartered in Montreal in 1835 under a cooperative ownership model unusual for the period — shares were deliberately priced low to allow artisans and small tradesmen to participate, in direct contrast to the merchant-dominated Bank of Montreal. This note predates the tumult of the 1837–38 Patriote rebellions only narrowly, and the bank itself operated through that political crisis with its local credibility largely intact, which was not a given for Quebec financial institutions of the era.
Danforth & Cousins were active in New York through the late 1830s before merging into the broader American Bank Note Company lineage. The bilingual denomination line — Dollars and Piastres — reflects the currency ambiguity of Lower Canada at the time, where Halifax currency, livres tournois accounting, and dollar reckoning coexisted in daily commerce.