Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Westmorland Bank of New Brunswick, Moncton |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central allegorical vignette across the upper portion, showing pastoral and agricultural figures in a horizontal composition. To the left stands a classical female figure with shield and spear, while a portrait medallion of a uniformed male figure occupies the lower right. The bank title THE WESTMORLAND BANK OF NEW-BRUNSWICK is inscribed in large bold lettering across the center, with the promise-to-pay text, denomination FIVE DOLLARS, and place of issue MONCTON, N.B. rendered beneath in script and letterpress, dated Aug. 1st 1861. |
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| Obverse lettering | THE WESTMORLAND BANK OF NEW-BRUNSWICK FIVE DOLLARS MONCTON, N.B. Aug. 1st 1861 5 THE PRESIDENT DIRECTORS &C |
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The Westmorland Bank of New Brunswick was chartered in 1854 and operated out of Moncton, then still a modest lumber and shipbuilding town on the Petitcodiac River. It was one of several small Maritime chartered banks that issued their own notes before Confederation and the eventual dominance of Dominion currency after 1870. The bank failed in 1867 — the same year of Confederation — leaving noteholders scrambling for redemption at a fraction of face value.
Survivors are genuinely scarce. Most circulating notes from failed pre-Confederation Maritime banks were either redeemed at a loss and destroyed or simply lost when the issuing institution collapsed without orderly wind-down.