2 Dollars / Piastres

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.