20 Dollars

The Royal Bank of Canada's pre-WWI chartered bank issues occupy a peculiar legal space: these were not central bank notes but private commercial paper, fully backed by the issuing bank's assets and redeemable at its counters. The Bank Act of 1871 permitted Canadian chartered banks to issue their own currency, a system that persisted until the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 finally ended private note issue — meaning notes like this one circulated alongside government Dominion Notes as everyday currency for over two decades after printing.

The American Bank Note Company's Ottawa facility handled much of the chartered bank work during this period. ABNC Ottawa was a branch operation, distinct from the New York parent, and supplied multiple Canadian chartered institutions concurrently.