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5 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of London in Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1883 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1858-date) |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is dominated by a central intaglio portrait of a bearded gentleman in formal attire, flanked on either side by the numeral "5" in large ornate format. To the left, an agricultural vignette includes a figure with foliage, while to the right a vignette of a dog seated beside a safe or chest appears in fine engraving. Guilloche underprint fills the background, with the bank title "THE BANK OF LONDON IN CANADA" arched across the upper portion and "FIVE DOLLARS" inscribed along the lower margin. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in blue-green ink, centered on a seated classical female allegorical figure rendered in intaglio, flanked by the numeral "5" on both sides within elaborate lathe-work panels. Intricate guilloche rosette patterns fill the left and right portions of the note, with the inscription "THE BANK OF LONDON IN CANADA" across the upper area and "FIVE DOLLARS" along the lower register. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of London in Canada was chartered in 1881 with British capital and headquartered in Toronto, positioning itself as a conduit between London financial markets and Canadian commercial lending. It did not last. The bank collapsed in 1887 after severe losses on real estate lending in southwestern Ontario, one of several small chartered banks that failed to survive the decade.
The British American Bank Note Company, operating out of Ottawa since 1866, handled most of the chartered bank note work in Canada during this period. This note predates the bank's failure by four years — circulated examples, if they survived redemption and destruction, did so largely by accident.