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20 Piastres
| Issuer | Banque d'Hochelaga |
|---|---|
| Year | 1898 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Dollar (1858-date) |
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| Obverse description | The upper portion carries the bank title 'BANQUE D'HOCHELAGA' in bold letterpress, with subsidiary inscriptions noting 'PROVINCE DE QUÉBEC,' 'INCORPORÉE EN 1874,' and 'CAPITAL $1,000,000.' A central intaglio agricultural vignette, set within an oval border, presents a hay-harvesting scene with workers, horses, and a rural Quebec landscape, while to the right a finely engraved portrait of a bearded gentleman appears within a circular frame alongside large numeral '20.' The lower margin bears the date 'MONTRÉAL, LE 1ER MAI, 1898' together with 'AU PORTEUR' and 'À DEMANDE' clauses in bilingual text. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANQUE D'HOCHELAGA PROVINCE DE QUÉBEC INCORPORÉE EN 1874 CAPITAL $1,000,000 VINGT PIASTRES TWENTY VINGT 20 MONTRÉAL, LE 1ER MAI, 1898 AU PORTEUR À DEMANDE |
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| Comments |
The Banque d'Hochelaga was a Montreal-chartered institution serving largely francophone Quebec commercial interests, and by 1898 it was one of the more aggressive regional competitors to the Bank of Montreal's dominance. The American Bank Note Company in New York was the prestige printer of choice for Canadian chartered banks throughout this period — its intaglio work set a quality benchmark that domestic printers couldn't reliably match.
Twenty piastres was the older French-language denomination convention; "piastres" and "dollars" appeared interchangeably on Quebec-issued chartered bank notes well into the late nineteenth century, the linguistic choice carrying mild political weight in an increasingly fraught federal banking environment. The Banque d'Hochelaga would eventually merge into the Banque Canadienne Nationale in 1924.