Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of Brantford, Sault St. Marie |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S1576 |
| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black on white paper with orange-red guilloche underprint. At centre, a large intaglio vignette depicts a steam locomotive approaching on a railway track with a horse-drawn carriage and figures in the foreground. To the lower left, an oval portrait vignette of Queen Victoria in regal attire faces right. To the lower right, a vignette of two cherubs or young children in repose. Large numeral '5' counters appear at upper left and upper right within ornate lathe-work frames. The issuer's name 'BANK OF BRANTFORD' is printed in bold letterpress across the centre, with the handwritten payable location 'Sault St. Marie' and manuscript date 'Nov. 2nd 1859' below the printed promise text. |
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| Obverse lettering | BANK OF BRANTFORD FIVE DOLLARS SAULT ST. MARIE Will pay FIVE DOLLARS to bearer on demand For the Bank of Brantford INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT OF THE PROVINCE OF CANADA AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY CAPITAL $1,000,000 |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Brantford was a short-lived Ontario institution that never fully established itself before failing — making any surviving paper from its issues genuinely uncommon. The Sault Ste. Marie payability clause is the telling detail here: branches or agencies in remote northern Ontario locations were common tactics for chartered banks attempting to expand their footprint, though actual redemption at such outposts was often theoretical at best.
The American Bank Note Company in New York printed for dozens of Canadian chartered banks during this period, supplying security printing that domestic Canadian firms could not yet match in quality or anti-counterfeiting sophistication.