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50 Dollars = 12 Pounds-10 Shillings
| Issuer | Banque du Peuple |
|---|---|
| Year | 1845 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Reference(s) | P#S892 |
| Obverse description | Black intaglio print on white paper. Canal boat vignette at left, central vignette of a reclining sailor with flag and sailing ship in background, bust of a young girl at bottom center, and paddle wheel steamboat at right. Blue TORONTO overprint with signature varieties. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Blue back with large numeral "50" rendered in ornate letterpress at center, flanked by light guilloche underprint across the entire field. Manuscript annotations and cancel marks visible. |
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| Comments |
The Banque du Peuple was a Montreal-based institution with strong ties to the Patriote movement — its founders included figures connected to the 1837–38 Lower Canada Rebellion. By 1845, the political storms had passed, but the bank's identity remained distinctly francophone and politically charged in a colony now unified under the Act of Union.
The dual denomination — dollars and pounds-shillings — reflects the genuinely chaotic currency situation in mid-1840s Canada, where Halifax currency, York currency, Spanish dollars, and British sterling all circulated simultaneously. A note had to speak both languages to function.
Toppan, Carpenter & Co. were among the most technically accomplished security printers working in North America at this period, later absorbed into the American Bank Note Company in 1858.