Catalog
50 Dollars
| Issuer | The Dominion Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1931 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio printing on an orange-tinted underprint; the issuer title 'THE DOMINION BANK' arches across the top register, with two oval portrait vignettes flanking a large central guilloche medallion bearing the denomination numeral '50' — the left vignette depicting the President and the right the General Manager, each rendered in formal attire. The place and date of issue 'TORONTO, 1ST FEBY. 1931' appear below the central medallion, while 'FIFTY DOLLARS' is set in bold letterpress along the lower margin, with the printer's imprint below. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed entirely in orange, the reverse centres on a large intaglio vignette of a cartographic map of Canada, framed within an ornate guilloche border. Corner counters in decorative scroll cartouches carry the denomination numeral '50', with 'THE DOMINION BANK' inscribed across the top and 'FIFTY DOLLARS' along the lower margin. |
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| Comments |
The Dominion Bank was a Toronto-chartered institution with roots going back to 1871, and by 1931 it was in the final years of independent operation before its 1955 merger with the Bank of Toronto to form the Toronto-Dominion Bank. High-denomination chartered bank notes like this $50 were issued in small quantities and saw very limited everyday circulation — large-value notes from this period moved primarily between businesses and financial institutions, which means genuine wear from hand-to-hand use is unusual.
Canadian Bank Note Company held the contract for the Dominion Bank series during this period, producing work from its Ottawa plant. The 1931 date places this note just inside the window when Canadian chartered banks could still issue their own currency under the Bank Act — that right was effectively curtailed with the establishment of the Bank of Canada in 1934 and the subsequent phased withdrawal of chartered bank notes from circulation.