Catalog
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| Issuer | Metropolitan Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1902 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE METROPOLITAN BANK WILL PAY TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND TORONTO NOVEMBER 5TH 1902 FIFTY DOLLARS 50 PRESIDENT COUNTERSIGNED AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, OTTAWA |
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| Reverse lettering | THE METROPOLITAN BANK FIFTY DOLLARS 50 AMERICAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, OTTAWA |
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| Comments |
The Metropolitan Bank was chartered in 1902 under the Bank Act of Canada, making this $50 note among the earliest issues the institution ever produced. High-denomination chartered bank notes of this period saw limited actual hand-to-hand circulation — they functioned primarily in settlement between commercial houses and clearing transactions, which means genuine wear on a $50 is far less common than on the $5 or $10 from the same series.
The American Bank Note Company's Ottawa plant, established in 1897, handled the bulk of Canadian chartered bank printing by the early twentieth century, having absorbed much of the work previously sent to New York or London engravers.