Catalog
50 Dollars
| Issuer | Union Bank of Canada, Winnipeg |
|---|---|
| Year | 1921 |
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| Value | 50 Dollars |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette consists of an oval portrait of a distinguished gentleman in formal attire, framed by fine intaglio engraving against a pink and green guilloche underprint. The bank title UNION BANK OF CANADA appears across the top in bold letterpress, with the place of issue WINNIPEG and date JULY 1ST 1921 inscribed below the portrait. The denomination 50 is repeated in each corner, and FIFTY DOLLARS appears in a dark panel at the bottom centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | UNION BANK OF CANADA DUE TO THE BEARER ON DEMAND 50 FIFTY DOLLARS Winnipeg July 1st 1921. PRESIDENT CASSHIER |
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| Comments |
The Union Bank of Canada was absorbed by the Royal Bank of Canada in 1925, making all Union Bank notes essentially short-lived — the 1921 series had barely four years in circulation before redemption began. High-denomination chartered bank notes of this period typically saw limited street circulation anyway; they moved between businesses and clearing houses rather than passing through ordinary hands, which is partly why survivors tend to show less wear than their smaller counterparts.
The American Bank Note Company operated a Ottawa facility that handled much of Canada's chartered banking paper in this period. The Union Bank's collapse into the Royal Bank was one of the last major chartered bank mergers before the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 ended private note issue altogether.