5 Dollars (1 Pound 10 Pence)

The Royal Bank of Canada's 1938 series was among the last chartered bank notes to circulate legally in Canada before the Bank of Canada Act amendments effectively ended commercial bank note issuance. After 1944, chartered banks were prohibited from issuing notes in denominations under $5, and the gradual phase-out of all chartered bank currency followed — making this late-series note a product of an institution already aware its note-issuing days were numbered.

The dual denomination reflects sterling-decimal convertibility requirements still in force for certain Caribbean and international branch transactions. Not a clerical quirk — a genuine operational necessity at the time.