3 Dollars

The Bank of Upper Canada was chartered in 1821 — which makes a note dated 1820 from this issuer genuinely anomalous. The Kingston institution (distinct from the later York-based Bank of Upper Canada chartered under the same name) operated on anticipation of its charter, issuing notes before formal legislative approval was secured. This was not unusual in early Canadian banking, where the line between authorized and provisional issue was routinely blurred.

Pre-charter colonial notes from Upper Canada are among the rarest survivors in North American paper money. Most were redeemed quickly or simply wore out in rough frontier circulation.