Catalog
5 Dollars = 25 Shillings
| Issuer | Niagara Suspension Bridge Bank, Queenston |
|---|---|
| Year | 1841 |
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| Reference(s) | P#S1904 |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | PAYABLE AT / THE BANK / THE NIAGARA / Suspension Bridge / Bank will pay FIVE dollars on demand / to / at / Queenston / FIVE / 5 / 5 |
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| Variants | S1904a - "Queenstown" above ship at bottom S1904b - "Queenstown" at left of ship at bottom (01.03.1841, 01.05.1841, 01.07.1841) S1904c - "Queenstown" above ship at bottom; UPPER CANADA |
| Comments |
The Niagara Suspension Bridge Bank was a short-lived Upper Canadian institution operating out of Queenston, a village at the base of the Niagara escarpment that had once been the principal entry point into Upper Canada before the War of 1812 reduced it to a backwater. The dual denomination — dollars and shillings — reflects the genuinely chaotic monetary arithmetic of pre-Confederation Canada, where American dollars, British sterling, and Halifax currency all circulated simultaneously and merchants priced goods in whichever unit suited them.
The bank itself was never a major issuing institution, which makes surviving notes from this 1841 series genuinely uncommon.