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5 Dollars
| Issuer | Merchants Bank of Canada, Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse is printed entirely in green, with a highly ornate guilloche underprint filling the entire field, divided into three panels separated by elaborate lathe-work borders. The left and right panels each contain a large stylized numeral 5 within a foliate cartouche, while the central panel bears the bank's heraldic coat of arms within a circular medallion surrounded by intricate engine-turned geometric patterns. The bank name THE MERCHANTS BANK OF CANADA is inscribed along the lower margin, with the numeral 5 repeated at all four corners. |
| Reverse lettering | 5 THE MERCHANTS BANK OF CANADA 5 |
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| Comments |
The Merchants Bank of Canada was absorbed into the Bank of Montreal in 1922 following a collapse triggered by fraudulent management and catastrophic loan losses — one of the more dramatic bank failures in Canadian financial history. Notes issued in its final years, including this 1917 piece, were redeemable after the merger, but public confidence had evaporated well before the formal winding-up.
The American Bank Note Company printed the bulk of Canadian chartered bank currency in this period, working from engraved steel plates to a quality that generally outlasted the institutions that ordered them.