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4 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
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| Composition | Cotton paper |
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|---|---|
| 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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| Variants | P#S505a - Printed back P#S505b - Uniface |
| 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.