Catalog
3 Dollars = 15 Shillings
| Issuer | Commercial Bank, Kingston |
|---|---|
| Year | 1837 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1792-date) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | New York Exchange 3 REAL ESTATE PLEDGED Commercial BANK Kingston U.C. Pay to Bearer for the Foreign & Domestic Exchange Company FIFTEEN SHILLINGS Currency on Demand New York June 17 1837 |
| Reverse description | The reverse shows a mirror-through impression of the obverse design, consistent with a single-sided note printed on thin cotton paper, with the central vignette and counter numerals visible in bleed-through. No independent reverse design or lettering is present, the face of the note being the sole printed side. |
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| Comments |
The Commercial Bank of Kingston was one of several Upper Canadian chartered banks that denominated notes in both dollars and shillings simultaneously — a practical necessity during the 1830s, when American silver dollars and British sterling circulated side by side in everyday commerce. The dual denomination wasn't decorative hedging; it reflected a genuine monetary ambiguity that wouldn't be resolved until Canada moved toward decimal currency in the 1850s.
Printed in New York, which supplied plate work for numerous colonial Canadian issuers who lacked domestic printing infrastructure of comparable quality.