Canadian paper money has an interesting history. If many of us were handed an example of the first Canadian paper currency, we wouldn’t recognize its significance. That’s because the first bills issued in Canada weren’t printed bills at all because paper was an expensive and somewhat scarce commodity. In 1685, Jacques de Meulles,the intendant of the French colony in North America, needed money to pay troops. He gathered playing cards, signed them, put his seal on them, and distributed them. He made this card money legal tender and required merchants to accept them. The rarity of these cards today make them highly valuable, so they’re generally only found in museums.

Canadian paper money issued in the 1800s is unique in that different bills were issued by different provinces. The Island of Saint John (later known as Prince Edward Island), Nova Scotia, British Columbia, Newfoundland, Canada and Alberta issued separate bills. All of these monies are rarely available to collectors, including British Army Bills that were issued between 1813 and 1818 as a an emergency because of The War of 1812. They’re all highly valuable and extremely rare, though occasionally Newfoundland bills and some Alberta bills from 1936 become available. Municipal notes, like those issued beginning in 1821 in Saint John, New Brunswick, are also very rare and hard to find.

Bank notes are the most readily available collectible Canadian paper money, though certain specimens are still very difficult to find. But bank issues are the best place for beginning collectors to start, and the best way to enhance an existing collection. Proof and specimen notes do show up in auctions occasionally, but they’re very rare and command high prices. Notes with the lowest serial numbers were usually kept as souvenirs by banking insiders, making them rare and valuable today.

Notes issued during 1837 and 1838 were often distributed by merchants who were sympathetic to the Patriots, because there was a limited amount of coins in circulation. These are great for Canadian paper money collectors, especially those interested in Canada’s history. They’re readily found in online auctions in varying conditions, and while some specific examples might be rare, even these usually spring up and become available at less cost than other rare types of notes.

While they never had monetary value and weren’t technically Canadian paper money, notes issued by business colleges in the late 19th century and early 20th century were used during training. And merchant advertising notes that also had no value, but are also an interesting part of Canadian history, are highly collectible today.

Old Canadian paper money can rarely be found in anything better than fine condition, with most of the older and more scarce bills usually in much worse shape. When looking at money to purchase, certainly the condition is important, but since so much of the older currency is in less than fine condition, a collector shouldn’t pass up the opportunity to purchase even a worn but older and possibly hard to find bill.

Originally posted 2008-10-12 14:00:05. Republished by Blog Post Promoter

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