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5 Dollars = 1 Pound 5 Shillings
| Issuer | International Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1858 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | INTERNATIONAL BANK OF CANADA Will Pay to Bearer on Demand FIVE DOLLARS TORONTO September 1st 1858 CAPITAL $1,000,000 ONE POUND FIVE SHILS CHARTERED BY PARLIAMENT 5 FIVE V |
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| Variants | P#S1817a - Issued note P#S1817r - Remainder |
| Comments |
The International Bank of Canada was a short-lived chartered institution, incorporated under the Province of Canada's free banking legislation but never fully established on sound footing. It failed in 1859, barely a year after this note was issued, leaving redemption uncertain and circulating notes effectively worthless almost immediately upon collapse.
The dual denomination — five dollars alongside the sterling equivalent — reflects the monetary awkwardness of colonial Canada in 1858, still straddling British accounting conventions and the decimal dollar system formalized only that same year by the Province of Canada Currency Act.
American Bank Note Company had recently consolidated several competing New York engraving firms when it took on this commission.