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20 Dollars
| Issuer | Halifax Banking Company |
|---|---|
| Year | 1871 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S1076 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central intaglio vignette of Halifax Harbour with sailing vessels and a fortified hilltop in the background, rendered in fine engraved detail. To the left and right are ornate lathe-work medallions bearing the denomination "CANADA $20 CURRENCY" within elaborate guilloche frames. The issuer's name "THE HALIFAX BANKING COMPANY" arches across the top, with the place and date of issue "Halifax, Nova Scotia, Sept. 11, 1871" inscribed below the central vignette, alongside the promise to pay text and signature lines for Cashier and President. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in black intaglio and comprises three large interlocking guilloche rosettes of great complexity: a central elongated oval medallion bearing the bold serif numeral "TWENTY" flanked by the figure "20", with two circular rosettes to either side each containing the numeral "20" repeated within concentric lathe-work rings. The issuer's name "THE HALIFAX BANKING COMPANY" arches across the top of the composition, with the printer's imprint of the Canada Bank Note Co., Montreal, appearing at the lower margins. |
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| Comments |
The Halifax Banking Company was one of Nova Scotia's longest-running private banks, operating from 1825 until its absorption into the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1903. By 1871, Canadian chartered banks still issued their own notes under the terms of the 1871 Bank Act — the same legislation that formally codified private bank note issuance while simultaneously beginning the process of federal standardization that would eventually end it.
The Canada Bank Note Company, established in Montreal in 1867, was the dominant security printer for Maritime and central Canadian institutions in this period. Twenty-dollar denominations from minor regional issuers in this era survive in very small numbers; Halifax Banking Company paper at any denomination is genuinely uncommon in the market.