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4 Dollars
| Issuer | City Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1857 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 4 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse carries a central vignette of a seated male figure atop a rocky outcrop, flanked by two circular medallions bearing the numeral '4' at left and right. A lower-left vignette presents an allegorical pastoral scene with figures, while the lower-right vignette shows a classical female figure. The royal arms of Canada appear in the upper-right corner, and the bank title 'CITY BANK' is set in bold letterpress across the centre, with the denomination 'FOUR DOLLARS' inscribed below and a reference to the Banking House in Montreal. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PROVINCE OF CANADA CITY BANK FOUR DOLLARS BANKING HOUSE MONTREAL INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT ON DEMAND PROMISES TO PAY FOUR |
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| Comments |
City Bank was chartered in Montreal in 1833 and remained one of the handful of Quebec-based chartered banks issuing their own paper currency well into Confederation. A $4 denomination — peculiar by modern standards — was entirely rational in mid-19th century Canada, where Spanish milled dollars and various colonial currencies had left arithmetic habits that made 4s and 8s as natural as 5s and 10s.
The Free Banking era pressure that drove American issuers to exotic denominations had less influence here; this was a deliberate commercial choice by a bank serving Montreal's merchant class. City Bank was absorbed by the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1875, cutting this series off cleanly.