The Canadian Bank of Commerce was one of the few Canadian chartered banks still issuing its own currency into the early 1920s, a practice that would effectively end with the 1934 Bank of Canada Act. This 1922 issue came off the American Bank Note Company's New York presses at a time when ABNC held the dominant share of Canadian chartered bank note contracts — a commercial relationship that dated back to the mid-nineteenth century and produced a remarkably consistent visual grammar across competing institutions.
Chartered bank notes of this period circulated alongside Dominion of Canada government issues, and the $20 denomination saw genuine commercial use rather than sitting idle in reserve. Survivors with honest wear are not uncommon, but unissued remainders also exist.
The Canadian Bank of Commerce was one of the few Canadian chartered banks still issuing its own currency into the early 1920s, a practice that would effectively end with the 1934 Bank of Canada Act. This 1922 issue came off the American Bank Note Company's New York presses at a time when ABNC held the dominant share of Canadian chartered bank note contracts — a commercial relationship that dated back to the mid-nineteenth century and produced a remarkably consistent visual grammar across competing institutions.
Chartered bank notes of this period circulated alongside Dominion of Canada government issues, and the $20 denomination saw genuine commercial use rather than sitting idle in reserve. Survivors with honest wear are not uncommon, but unissued remainders also exist.