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5 Dollars / 1 Pound and 10 Pence Royal Bank of Canada
| Issuer | The Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
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| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a large ocean steamship underway at sea, with a smaller sailing vessel visible in the background, set within an arched intaglio frame. The bank title "THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA" runs in bold letterpress across the top, flanked in each upper corner by dark guilloche panels bearing the denomination "5 DOMINICA DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £1-0-10". The lower portion carries the place and date of issue in script, a crown device, and two manuscript signatures above printed title designations for the General Manager and the President, with the notation "REDEEMABLE ONLY IN DOMINICA" at centre. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The Royal Arms vignette is centrally positioned, rendered in intaglio in dark green, with a lion and a unicorn as supporters flanking a quartered shield surmounted by a crown; the motto ribbon below reads "DIEU ET MON DROIT" and the Garter motto "HONI SOIT MAL" is visible on the shield surround. Denomination panels to the left and right of the arms each read "FIVE DOMINICA DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £1-0-10" in bold letterpress. The issuer's name "THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA" appears in a decorative banner across the lower centre, and ornate scrollwork corner devices frame the entire composition. |
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| Comments |
This note occupies an odd moment in Canadian banking history: the $5 / £1 10s dual denomination was a direct product of the currency transition underway in Newfoundland, where sterling reckoning remained in everyday use long after Canada had standardized on dollars. The Royal Bank had absorbed the Union Bank of Halifax in 1910 and was aggressively expanding its Atlantic operations, and notes denominated in both currencies were a practical necessity for branches operating across that boundary.
Henry Holt, whose signature appears here as H.S. Holt, was simultaneously president of the Royal Bank and of the Montreal Light, Heat and Power Company — a concentration of financial and industrial power that would later draw parliamentary scrutiny.