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5 Dollars / 1 Pound and 10 Pence Royal Bank of Canada
| Issuer | The Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central intaglio vignette of a large ocean steamship under full steam on open seas, set within an arched frame with ornate scrollwork at the base. The green guilloche underprint covers the entire note, with the bank title in bold letterpress across the top, denomination counters in the upper corners, and the place and date of issue to the lower left. Two manuscript signatures appear at the bottom, attributed to the General Manager (left) and President (right), with the printer's imprint at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The full Royal Arms of the United Kingdom occupies the centre of the note, with the lion and unicorn supporters flanking the quartered shield, surmounted by the Imperial Crown and helm, and the motto ribbon inscribed DIEU ET MON DROIT below. The vignette is executed in green intaglio against a lighter guilloche ground, enclosed within an ornate engraved border with foliate corner pieces. Denomination panels reading FIVE DOMINICA DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £1-0-10 appear to the left and right of the arms, with the bank name in a panel at the foot and the printer's imprint below. |
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| Comments |
The dual denomination — 5 Dollars on one face, 1 Pound 10 Pence on the other — reflects the Royal Bank's substantial Caribbean and Newfoundland operations during a period when sterling-denominated accounts still mattered to those branches. Newfoundland did not join Confederation until 1949, and the pound remained legal tender there throughout the 1930s. A single note serving both currency systems was a practical solution, not a novelty.
The Canadian Bank Note Company had been producing this dual-face series for the Royal Bank since the 1910s, with successive issues refining the format. By 1938 it was a mature design, issued for use in branches where tellers needed flexibility across currency zones without maintaining separate note stocks.