Catalog
50 Dollars
| Issuer | Colonial Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Engraved in the elaborate intaglio style characteristic of American Bank Note Company issues, the obverse carries ornate guilloche frames enclosing large "50" counters at left and right, with a central vignette of a three-masted sailing vessel under full sail on open water. A secondary vignette at lower left shows a warrior on horseback, while a portrait vignette at lower right presents a young woman in Victorian dress. The bank title "Colonial Bank of Canada" is set in bold letterpress across the centre, with the promise text and parliamentary incorporation notice disposed along the lower border, and the ABNCo imprint at foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | TORONTO CAPITAL $2,000,000 Colonial Bank of Canada Will pay FIFTY DOLLARS to bearer AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, NEW YORK INCORPORATED BY ACT OF PARLIAMENT Cashier President 50 |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The Colonial Bank of Canada had a short and troubled life. Chartered in 1856 under the Province of Canada, it never achieved the branch network or capital base its founders projected, and by the early 1860s it was in serious difficulty. Notes of this denomination would have circulated primarily in wholesale trade and interbank settlement — retail transactions rarely touched fifty-dollar paper in that period.
The American Bank Note Company had consolidated from several earlier New York security printers just the year before this note was issued, in 1858. Early ABNC output for Canadian chartered banks tends to show transitional engraving styles inherited from predecessor firms.