Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1909 |
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| Size | 187 × 83 mm |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | DOMINION OF CANADA THE Royal Bank of Canada WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND FIVE DOLLARS MONTREAL JAN 2nd, 1909. BARBADOS PAYABLE AT BRIDGETOWN BARBADOS 5 |
| Reverse description | Black intaglio print on green guilloche underprint. The central vignette presents the British Royal Coat of Arms, flanked by a lion and a unicorn as supporters, with the motto ribbon below. Denomination numerals FIVE appear in guilloche panels to the left and right of the central arms, with THE ROYAL BANK and OF CANADA lettered in the upper and lower borders respectively. |
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| Comments |
The Royal Bank of Canada's early twentieth-century note production ran through the American Bank Note Company's Ottawa plant, which handled much of Canada's chartered bank printing during this period. The Royal Bank itself was still consolidating its national reach — having relocated its head office from Halifax to Montreal only in 1907, two years before this note was issued.
Chartered bank notes in Canada circulated alongside Dominion of Canada government currency until the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 effectively ended private bank note issuance. This 1909 series predates the regulatory tightening that followed the 1923 failure of the Home Bank, which accelerated political pressure toward centralized currency control.