Catalog
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| Issuer | Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1913 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The obverse presents two male portrait vignettes in intaglio, one at left and one at right, flanking a central coat of arms on a fine guilloche underprint. The text 'THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA' arches across the top, with 'FIVE DOLLARS' inscribed along the lower centre. A vertical 'ST. KITTS' overprint appears in blue on each side, with an additional overprint reading 'PAYABLE AT BASSETT, ST. KITTS' across the face. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA DOMINION OF CANADA WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND MONTREAL FIVE DOLLARS ST. KITTS PAYABLE AT BASSETT, ST. KITTS |
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| Comments |
The Royal Bank of Canada was still headquartered in Montreal when this note was issued, having relocated there from Halifax only in 1907 following rapid expansion into Quebec and Ontario. The 1913 series appeared at the peak of a pre-war credit boom that would collapse almost immediately — by August 1914, Canadian chartered banks were scrambling to manage liquidity, and Dominion government notes increasingly displaced private bank currency in everyday commerce.
The Canadian Bank Note Company in Ottawa printed for most of the major chartered banks simultaneously, which creates attribution headaches when plate-printed marginal text is ambiguous. On this series, printer identification is unambiguous.