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5 Dollars / 1 Pound and 10 Pence Royal Bank of Canada
| Issuer | The Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938 |
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| Composition | Paper |
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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. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | 5 DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £1-0-10 (upper left and upper right) THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND AT ROSEAU DOMINICA THE SUM OF FIVE DOLLARS IN DOMINICA CURRENCY REDEEMABLE ONLY IN DOMINICA ROSEAU DOMINICA JANUARY 3RD 1938 FIVE DOMINICA DOLLARS THE EQUIVALENT OF £1-0-10 GENERAL MANAGER PRESIDENT CANADIAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, LIMITED. |
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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.