Catalog
5 Dollars
| Issuer | Molsons Bank, Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1922 |
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| Currency | Dollar (1858-date) |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white cotton paper with a dark guilloche underprint. The upper border carries the inscription 'DOMINION OF CANADA' and the bank title 'THE MOLSONS BANK' in large arched lettering across the centre, with the promise clause 'WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND' below. A central guilloche vignette frames the denomination 'FIVE DOLLARS' in bold lettering, flanked by the branch designation 'B Montreal' at left and the date 'July, 3rd, 1922.' at right, with a portrait vignette of a distinguished gentleman in an oval frame to the right. Two red serial numbers appear at upper left and upper right, with signature lines for the General Manager and President below, and the printer's imprint 'British American Bank Note Co. Ottawa' at the foot. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse centres on a large circular vignette bearing the Molsons Bank heraldic arms with the legend 'THE MOLSONS BANK' in an arched ribbon above and 'CHARTERED ET 1855' on a scroll within the device. The composition is framed by an intricate guilloche lathe-work border, with the large numeral '5' in open-face style at left and right, and the denomination 'FIVE DOLLARS' in bold lettering along the lower border. Repeating micro-text 'FIVE' appears in the horizontal band fillets surrounding the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
Molsons Bank was one of Canada's longest-surviving chartered private banks, tracing its origins to 1855 and backed by the Molson brewing and industrial fortune. By 1922, the chartered bank era in Canada was already contracting — mergers and federal policy were steadily consolidating the sector. Molsons Bank itself was absorbed by the Bank of Montreal just two years after this note was issued, in 1925, making late-dated Molsons notes genuinely terminal survivors of a disappearing institution.
The British American Bank Note Company had been handling Molsons work for decades by this point. Notes from the final years of issue tend to surface in higher grades than earlier dates, likely because the 1925 merger cut circulation short.