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20 Dollars = 5 Louis/Pounds
| Issuer | Banque du Peuple |
|---|---|
| Year | 1870 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#S902 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on white paper and carries the bilingual bank title 'LA BANQUE DU PEUPLE' in bold letterpress across the upper centre. To the left stands a vignette of a labourer or fisherman figure, while the right vignette portrays a rural ploughing scene with horses and a farmer. The denomination 'CINQ LOUIS FIVE POUNDS' appears in large script across the centre, with the numeral '20' repeated in the upper left and lower right corners within ornate frames; the note bears two manuscript signatures at the base and is cancelled with multiple punch holes. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse lettering | 20 |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Peuple was one of Montreal's oldest private banks, founded in 1835 with a cooperative structure unusual for the period — shareholders included a significant number of French-Canadian artisans and small merchants, not just the merchant elite who controlled most colonial credit. By 1870, when this note was issued, the bank had survived multiple financial panics but was operating in an increasingly competitive environment as Confederation-era chartered banks consolidated their dominance.
The dual denomination — dollars and Louis/Pounds — reflects Quebec's genuinely complicated monetary transition of the mid-nineteenth century, where French-speaking communities continued using livre and Louis reckoning long after official decimalization. The Canada Bank Note Printing Co. was itself a relatively new operation by 1870, having emerged from earlier partnerships to serve the surge in private bank note demand following Confederation.
The Banque du Peuple ultimately failed in 1895 amid fraud allegations against its management.