Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Exchange Bank of Toronto |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse bears a central vignette of a fully rigged sailing ship under sail on open water, framed by the bank's name in large arched lettering reading 'EXCHANGE BANK OF TORONTO'. To the left, two smaller vignettes are arranged vertically — an upper oval vignette with a numeral '5' and a lower vignette with an allegorical or pastoral scene — while to the right stands a classical female allegorical figure. The legend 'FIVE DOLLARS' appears in a rectangular panel beneath the ship vignette, with the promise-to-pay text, date 'May 1st 1855', and place 'Toronto' inscribed below. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | No reverse image provided; reverse description unavailable. |
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| Comments |
The Exchange Bank of Toronto was a short-lived institution — chartered but operating under persistent capital constraints throughout the 1850s. This note predates the Bank Act consolidations that would eventually force smaller Upper Canadian banks either into merger or closure, and few of these early Toronto private bank issues survived in any quantity.
Cotton substrate was essentially universal for Canadian chartered bank paper of this period, but the print quality among smaller issuers varied considerably depending on whether they contracted a Montreal or New York engraving house. Worth knowing before attributing any plate anomalies to damage rather than original production.