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1 Dollar
| Issuer | Banque du Peuple |
|---|---|
| Year | 1839 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Black intaglio print. Vignettes of the Christ child appear at left and right, flanking a central angel bearing a shield of Britannia with a cherub above; the company name is inscribed at lower left. Denomination expressed in dollars only. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue letterpress print. A Spanish 8 Reales coin vignette occupies the left, an allegorical Agriculture scene fills the center, and a standing male figure appears at right. |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Peuple was a Montreal cooperative bank founded largely by Patriote sympathizers in the immediate aftermath of the 1837–38 Lower Canada Rebellion — its very existence was a political act, designed to offer French-Canadian merchants and tradespeople an alternative to the anglophone commercial banks that dominated colonial credit. This note dates to the bank's first year of operation.
Durand & Co. engraved and printed for a number of early Canadian private banks during this period, working out of New York. The S-prefix in the Pick reference places this squarely in the speculative private bank category — redeemability in specie was always the question with such institutions, and the Banque du Peuple would eventually suspend payments more than once before its final collapse in 1895.