Catalog
20 Dollars
| Issuer | Dominion Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1897-1925 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is engraved in dark olive-green intaglio, dominated by an elaborate engine-turned guilloche pattern covering the entire field. A central medallion contains an intaglio portrait bust of a classical female figure with laurel wreath, surrounded by radiating geometric lathe-work. The denomination numeral '20' appears in two flanking guilloche roundels at left and right. The bank name is inscribed in bold serif lettering at the lower centre, with the printer's imprint in small text below. |
| Reverse lettering | THE DOMINION BANK AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, OTTAWA |
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| Comments |
The Dominion Bank was a mid-sized Toronto chartered bank that operated from 1871 until its 1955 merger with the Toronto-Dominion Bank. Under the Bank Act framework governing Canadian chartered banks, institutions were permitted to issue their own circulating notes — a system that persisted until the Bank of Canada's monopoly on currency issuance was gradually enforced through the 1930s and 1940s. The $20 denomination sat at the upper end of practical commerce; high enough that surviving examples in circulated grades often show relatively light wear.
ABNC's Ottawa facility handled much of the chartered bank printing for Canadian institutions during this period, operating semi-independently from the company's New York headquarters.