5 Dollars

The Royal Bank of Canada was a chartered commercial bank issuing its own currency under the Bank Act — a right that survived until the Bank of Canada's creation in 1934 effectively ended private bank note issue in Canada. This 1927 note predates that shift by seven years, placing it in the tail end of the era when Canadian chartered banks competed for circulation, each jealously guarding public confidence in their paper.

H.S. Holt — Sir Herbert Holt — was one of the most powerful businessmen in Canadian history, serving as RBC president from 1908 to 1934. His signature here is almost incidental to the note's function, but his tenure spanned the bank's transformation into a continental institution with deep Caribbean operations.

Canadian Bank Note Company printed the bulk of chartered bank issues from Ottawa during this period.