Old Money from The Halifax Banking Company

The Halifax Banking Company opened in 1825 as a private bank.  In 1903 it was bought by The Canadian Bank of Commerce.  The Halifax Banking Company was the first financial institution in Nova Scotia to offer regular banking services.  It was very successful locally but it lacked reach and thus was never able to really grow or expand.  Our guide below has more information about their bank note issues.

Early Bank Notes 1825 – 1859:

The first bank notes printed by The Halifax Banking Company are dated as 1st September 1825 and Sept. 1 1826.  These were signed by P.C. Hill and H.H. Cogswell.  This is not something you are likely to see at your local coin shop.  These are exceptionally rare and only exist in museums.  New designs were commissioned starting in 1833 and used until the 1850s.

Bank Notes from 1863:

We are starting to get into some more modern looking bank notes when we look at issues from 1863.  Only twenty dollar bills were printed and they can be dated as 9th Decr. 1863 (or 14th Septr. 1871 on proofs).  All 1863 bank notes are rare.

Bank Notes from 1871:

Twenty dollar bills were exclusively printed in 1871 by The Halifax Banking Company.  There are a couple of different varieties.  The first type doesn’t have an engraved date.  Instead “July 1, 1871” and “Canada Currency” are overprinted in red ink.  The second version (seen below) has an engraved date of Septr. 14th 1871.  Both versions are very rare.

Bank Notes from 1872:

Four, five, ten, and twenty dollar bank notes were printed with an engraved date of October 1st, 1872.  These were the first bank notes printed by The Halifax Banking Company as a chartered bank.  Each note should be signed by Wm. Pryor.

Bank Notes from 1880:

The same designs and same denominations were used for bank notes dated as October 1st, 1880 or Oct. 1, 1880 .  These were printed by the American Bank of Co. New York and the Canada Bank Note Company.  All of these bank notes from both 1880 and 1872 are very rare.  We don’t even really know the print ranges.

Bank Notes from 1887:

The Halifax Banking Company printed some absolutely beautiful bank notes in 1887.  They are dated as Jan. 1st 1887.  Several different varieties were printed, but they were limited to the five dollar denomination.  Each note has an engraved signature of R. Uniacke.

Bank Notes from 1890:

Ten and twenty dollar notes were printed by the Canada Bank Note Co. Montreal for The Halifax Banking Company.  These are dated as July 2nd 1890.  They are also very rare.

Bank Notes from 1894:

These look just like earlier five dollar bills from 1887 except these were printed by the British American Bank Note Co. Ottawa.  They are also equally rare.

Bank Notes from 1896 & 1898:

These two issues are typically grouped together because they both feature a portrait of Robbie Uniacke who is also a signer on the bank notes.  Five dollar bills were printed with a date of July 2nd 1896.  Five, ten, and twenty dollar bills were also printed with a date of July 1st 1898.  As we have said about many bank notes from The Halifax Banking Company, notes from 1896 and 1898 are very rare.

GOT SOMETHING TO SELL?

We buy all types of Canadian currency.  We are especially interested in bank notes from The Halifax Banking Company.  You might be surprised at how much money we can offer for some currency.  Send us an email with pictures of the front and back of your bank note and we will respond quickly with our offer.

Manning@CanadaCurrency.com

Sample Bank Note Image:

Your piece of currency from The Halifax Banking Company could look similar to the one seen below.  Anything like this without a serial number, date, or signatures is a known as a proof or specimen.  These are much more common than issued ban notes.  Contact us for more value information.