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5 Dollars = 25 Shillings
| Issuer | Bank of Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1852-1853 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is laid out in a horizontal format with the bank title 'The Bank of Montreal' in bold serif lettering across the upper register, beneath a header band reading 'INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT.' A heraldic vignette occupies the upper left, balanced by a small vignette of a mounted figure at upper right. The central text states the promise to pay the bearer on demand at the office in the city, with 'TWENTY FIVE SHILLINGS C.' rendered in bold guilloche-bordered lettering. The denomination 'FIVE DOLLARS' appears in a separate panel at lower left within an ornate frame, accompanied by serial numbers in red and a manuscript signature for the Bank of Montreal at lower right. |
|---|---|
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| Variants | P#S499a - Type I: Quebec-Quebec. 3.4.1852; 1.3.1853 P#S499b - Type II: 1852-53 |
| Comments |
The Bank of Montreal was Canada's oldest chartered bank and, by the 1850s, its de facto central institution — handling government accounts for the Province of Canada before Confederation. This denomination, expressed as both dollars and shillings, reflects the transitional currency environment of the period, when the old Halifax currency system and the newer decimal dollar coexisted in commercial life. The dual expression was not decorative; it was a practical necessity for merchants settling accounts across the dollar-shilling divide.
The equivalence of 5 dollars to 25 shillings places this firmly in the Halifax currency standard, where 4 shillings equaled one dollar.