Catalog
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| Issuer | Bank of Montreal |
|---|---|
| Year | 1844 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Unprinted back showing bleed-through of the obverse intaglio design, with four cancellation punch holes along the lower margin and a red numeral underprint visible in reverse. |
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| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Red numeral protector printed across the face of the note to deter alteration of the denomination. |
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| Comments |
The Bank of Montreal was already the dominant commercial bank in British North America by the 1840s, and this note reflects the dual-denomination reality of Canadian commerce at the time — sterling and dollars circulating side by side, with the conversion fixed at four dollars to the pound. The numeral underprint, a relatively new security technique at the time, was among the innovations Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Co. were actively promoting to colonial banks wary of counterfeiting.
Rawdon, Wright, Hatch & Co. would later merge into the American Bank Note Company in 1858. Notes from this transitional period of Canadian private banking are appreciably scarcer than later Dominion-era issues.