3 Dollars

The Colonial Bank of Canada was chartered in 1858 and operated out of Quebec, but its ambitions were short-lived — the bank collapsed before establishing any meaningful branch network, making its notes rare survivors of a failed venture rather than worn instruments of commerce. Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson, the New York security printers responsible for this note, were among the most prolific bank note engravers on the continent at the time, producing paper for dozens of institutions across Canada and the United States.

The three-dollar denomination itself reflects mid-nineteenth century Canadian colonial banking convention, where odd denominations were common to facilitate specific exchange calculations against both sterling and decimal currency systems then competing for dominance.