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4 Dollars / 1 Pound Bank of British North America, Brantford
| Issuer | Bank of British North America |
|---|---|
| Year | 1853 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S221 |
| Obverse description | The left border carries a standing allegorical figure of Britannia with shield and spear, while a seated figure of Commerce rests against bales of goods before a harbour vignette at right; a central agricultural harvesting scene occupies the midfield. Dual denomination counters appear in the upper corners, '$4' at upper left and '£1' at upper right, with 'BRANTFORD' inscribed vertically along both lateral margins. The lower border bears the legend 'INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER', and a bold 'SPECIMEN' overprint is applied across the centre of the note. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA ONE FOUR POUND DOLLARS $4 £1 BRANTFORD This Bank will pay the Bearer on demand ONE POUND Currency BRANTFORD 1st July 1853 INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER SPECIMEN |
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| Comments |
The Bank of British North America was chartered in London in 1836 and operated as a British imperial institution with branches across the Canadian provinces — making it structurally distinct from the locally chartered colonial banks competing alongside it. The dual denomination of 4 Dollars / 1 Pound reflects the currency confusion endemic to mid-century Upper Canada, where sterling and Halifax currency ran parallel to American dollar reckoning, and merchants routinely needed both on the same instrument.
Perkins, Bacon & Petch had mastered the lathe-work guilloche and siderographic transfer techniques that made their plates extraordinarily difficult to counterfeit. The Brantford branch was a minor outpost serving the Grand River farming districts — high-denomination branch notes from small offices saw limited release and light return traffic, which accounts for the relative scarcity of surviving Brantford-payable examples today.