Catalog
4 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1858-date) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears the central inscription BANK OF MONTREAL and PROVINCIAL NOTE / LEGAL TENDER in bold overprint across the face. A portrait vignette of a male figure occupies the centre, flanked by the word FOUR in large ornate letters to the left and the numeral 4 in a decorative panel to the right. Allegorical seated figures appear in the lower left and lower right corners, with vertical guilloche panels along each side edge bearing the denomination and capital amounts. The date and place of issue, Quebec, 8 Jan. 1859, appear along the lower portion of the note alongside manuscript signatures. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BANK OF MONTREAL PROVINCIAL NOTE LEGAL TENDER FOUR Four Dollars PAYABLE IN TORONTO QUEBEC FOR THE RECEIVER GENERAL CAPITAL $8,000,000 QUEBEC 8 Jan. 1859 FOUR |
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| Comments |
The $4 denomination was a practical workaround unique to British North American banking. With a Spanish dollar worth approximately 5 shillings and British currency still circulating alongside colonial paper, a $4 note equated to one pound sterling at the prevailing rate — making it genuinely useful at a time when merchants still kept dual accounts in dollars and pounds. The denomination disappeared once decimal currency was firmly standardized in Canada after 1858, which makes this 1859 issue a near-final example of the type.
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Edson maintained a Montreal operation alongside their better-known New York house, and this note was printed there rather than exported from the United States.