Catalog
8 Dollars = 2 Pounds
| Issuer | Commercial Bank of New Brunswick, St. John |
|---|---|
| Year | 1860 |
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| Value | 8 Dollars = 2 Pounds |
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| Obverse description | Executed in fine intaglio engraving by the American Bank Note Company, the obverse centres on a royal coat of arms vignette flanked by two ornate lathe-work counter medallions each bearing the numeral '8', with a further large '8' counter set within a guilloche panel at the right margin and a vertical left-margin panel carrying the bold legend 'EIGHT DOLLARS / TWO POUNDS'. An allegorical seated female figure holding a sheaf of grain occupies the lower right, while the full promissory text reads 'The President Directors & Co. of the Commercial Bank of New-Brunswick Will pay EIGHT DOLLARS to the bearer on demand St. John, N.B., Nov. 1st 1860', with the additional inscriptions 'ESTABLISHED BY ROYAL CHARTER' and signature lines for Cashier and President. |
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| Obverse lettering | EIGHT DOLLARS TWO POUNDS COMMERCIAL BANK OF NEW-BRUNSWICK EIGHT DOLLARS The President Directors & Co. of the Commercial Bank of New-Brunswick Will pay EIGHT DOLLARS to the bearer on demand St. John, N.B., Nov. 1st 1860 ESTABLISHED BY ROYAL CHARTER Cashr Prest |
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The eight-dollar denomination was a peculiarity of colonial Canadian banking, built around the fixed exchange rate of four dollars to the pound sterling — a convenience for merchants transacting in both currencies without doing mental arithmetic at the counter. The Commercial Bank of New Brunswick issued through St. John, a city whose commerce was heavily tied to timber export and the North Atlantic trade, meaning American dollars and British pounds passed through the same hands constantly.
The American Bank Note Company held a near-monopoly on quality security printing for Maritime banks by this period. New Brunswick entered Confederation in 1867, after which provincial bank notes were gradually absorbed into the Dominion currency system — this issue had fewer than a decade of practical relevance before the political ground shifted entirely beneath it.