20 Dollars

The Canadian Bank of Commerce was one of several chartered banks still issuing their own Dominion-authorized notes in 1935 — a practice that would effectively end two years later when the Bank of Canada assumed sole responsibility for currency issuance in Canada. This note belongs to the last generation of privately issued Canadian chartered bank currency, a system that had operated since Confederation.

The Canadian Bank Note Company printed for multiple chartered banks simultaneously during this final period, and the 1935 series was produced knowing the window was closing. Surviving high-denomination examples like this twenty are scarcer than the lower values, which saw heavier counter use before redemption.