Money -> Paper Money: World -> Canada
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
Related Posts -
Federal Reserve Notes Coins and Paper Money -> Paper Money: US -> Large Size Notes -> Federal Reserve Notes One of the most interesting collectibles in the field of coins and paper money are federal reserve notes. However, there is quite a bit of confusion out there about what these notes really are....... -
Russian Ruble Coins-and-Paper-Money -> Coins-World -> Russia The Russian ruble collector is likely someone who doesn’t just love coins, but has an interest in Russia’s heritage as a country. One of the problems with purchasing rubles is that counterfeiting has always been a common thing with Russian coins. And not just...... -
Earn a Profit Collecting Rare Coins If you are looking to earn a profit with a unique type of collection, then one of the collection options that you may want to consider is rare coins. When you are collecting coins for the purpose of an investment, then it is probably going to follow that you are...... -
Rare Coins Coins and Paper Money -> Ancient Coins -> Persian, Indian, Asian There is something very special about rare coins. No matter where in the world they came from, they usually have a very rich history and collectors will search to the ends of the earth to find that special rare...... - Silver Bullion Coins Coins & Paper Money -> Bullion -> Silver People buy silver bullion coins for a few different reasons. Some buy them because of the precious metal content as an investment and buffer against inflation. Some people buy them because they fear that one day our popular currency will become worthless,......
Related Websites - Hm, I should check my inbox more often I finally logged in to my TreasuryDirect account in order to schedule a purchase, and discovered that I had a notification waiting for me there. It said, "Treasury is now offering marketable securities at a lower minimum. Treasury Bills, Notes, Bonds and TIPS can now be purchased in TreasuryDirect for......
- Ten Ways To Save Money On Heating Bills This Winter. Depending on where you live in the country, this winter could be a rough one - especially if you heat your house with oil, which estimates say will cost you twice what it did last year. Ouch. So while it is still nice outside and before the first winter storm......
- What to do with those State Quarter maps? Over Christmas I found a Hawaii quarter, which is the fiftieth quarter in the State Quarters series from the US Mint. We got home late Thursday and amongst all of the unpacking we punched out the last circle in the map and put Hawaii in. We looked it over for......
- Marriage and Money: Automating and Free Bill Pay This series was inspired by the recent marriage in our family. I organized some information with my brother in law and new sister in law in mind. If you find these tips to be useful, please share them. Congratulations on getting married. I hope you have a happy and long......
- Top 10+ ways to help the environment and save money We all read about ways that an individual can help the environment such as buying carbon offsets, driving less, recycling cans and bottles, etc. But there are many more ways that little changes in your every day life can affect the big picture if more people started doing them. I......
