Catalog
50 Dollars
| Issuer | Royal Bank of Canada |
|---|---|
| Year | 1927 |
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| Size | 185 x 92 mm |
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| Obverse description | The obverse is printed in black intaglio on white paper with red serial numbers. At left, an engraved portrait vignette of a distinguished gentleman in formal attire occupies the left third of the note, flanked by a repeating '50 L 50' lathe-work border. The centre carries the Arms of Canada coat of arms vignette, with the large bank title 'THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA' arched across the top, the obligation 'WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND' below it, and the denomination 'FIFTY DOLLARS' at the bottom; at right, a large ornate guilloche rosette frames the numeral '50'. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND FIFTY DOLLARS DOMINION OF CANADA MONTREAL JANUARY 1927 GENERAL MANAGER PRESIDENT 50 L 50 L 50 L 50 |
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| Comments |
The Royal Bank of Canada was a private commercial bank, not a central bank, and its chartered bank notes circulated as legal tender under the Dominion's banking framework — a system that persisted until the Bank of Canada Act of 1934 finally centralized currency issuance. This 1927 series was among the last private chartered bank issues to circulate widely before that legislation rendered them obsolete.
The Canadian Bank Note Company had been the dominant security printer for chartered bank issues since the early twentieth century, producing work of consistently high technical quality from its Ottawa facilities. Surviving examples of this denomination tend to show heavy circulation wear — fifties were working notes, not keepsakes.