Catalog
20 Dollars
| Issuer | Union Bank of Newfoundland |
|---|---|
| Year | 1889 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | UNION BANK OF NEWFOUNDLAND Saint Johns, May 1st 1889 TWENTY DOLLARS We promise to pay the bearer on demand CURRENCY IN SPECIE American Bank Note Co. N.Y. |
| Reverse description | Deep blue intaglio print with a central circular vignette of a steam locomotive in a rail yard, surrounded by elaborate guilloche rosette panels. Denomination numeral "20" appears at left and right within ornate lathe-work borders. Inscription "UNION BANK OF NEWFOUNDLAND" arcs around the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Newfoundland was chartered in 1854 and operated as one of the colony's two principal chartered banks — the other being the Commercial Bank — until a catastrophic run on deposits during the financial crisis of 1894 forced its doors shut permanently. This note predates that collapse by five years, issued during a period when the bank still commanded genuine public confidence.
The American Bank Note Company held the contract for Union Bank issues throughout most of the institution's later decades. Notes of this denomination from 1889 are genuinely rare survivors; the 1894 failure triggered a government-supervised liquidation in which large quantities of unredeemed paper were destroyed.