Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
50 Dollars
| Issuer | Bank of Hamilton |
|---|---|
| Year | 1892 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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) | P#S454 |
| Obverse description | Black intaglio engraving on a light green-tinted underprint. An oval portrait vignette of a bearded gentleman occupies the left portion of the note, flanked by ornate guilloche work and numeral 50 counters in each lower corner. A central vignette depicts a paddle steamer on water, rendered in fine line engraving. The issuer's title 'THE BANK OF HAMILTON' appears in bold script across the upper centre, with 'WILL PAY TO BEARER' below, and the denomination 'FIFTY DOLLARS' in large lettering across the lower centre field. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green intaglio, the reverse carries the bank title 'BANK OF HAMILTON' in large bold letters across the top, enclosed within elaborate guilloche border work. The central vignette portrays a dramatic pastoral scene of cattle being driven through a river crossing. Numeral 50 counters appear in octagonal frames at upper right and lower left, with intricate lathe-work filling the remaining field. |
| 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 Bank of Hamilton was a legitimate Ontario chartered bank that survived well into the twentieth century before merging with the Canadian Bank of Commerce in 1924. Commissioning the Chicago-based Western Bank Note and Engraving Company for this 1892 issue was not unusual — several Canadian chartered banks went south of the border for engraving work when American firms offered competitive quality and pricing that domestic printers couldn't match.
High-denomination chartered bank notes from this period faced a peculiar survival problem: they were used hard in commercial transactions, redeemed quickly, and rarely saved. Fifty-dollar examples from any Ontario issuer of this era are genuinely uncommon.