10 Dollars CAN Banknote (Private Bank Issue) 1939

10 Dollars Canadian Dollar (Issued 1939)

Canadian private banking culture of the late 1930s placed considerable emphasis on institutional prestige and the projection of financial authority, values that are unmistakably expressed in this ten-dollar note issued by the Imperial Bank of Canada on 3rd January 1939. The note presents the bank itself as a sovereign-like institution, flanked by portraits of its senior leadership and adorned with the heraldic symbolism of the British Crown. Issued just months before the outbreak of the Second World War, it reflects an era when chartered banks in Canada commanded extraordinary public trust and the visual language of their currency spoke directly to stability, loyalty, and imperial connection. The fine steel-engraving throughout is a testament to the craftsmanship demanded of serious financial instruments of the period.

On the front, the note is dominated by two finely engraved portraits facing inward toward the central design. On the left is a portrait of a bespectacled man in a suit, identified as the General Manager of the Imperial Bank of Canada at the time of issue, whose printed signature appears below his image alongside the title “General Manager.” To the right sits a second portrait of a broader-faced, moustached gentleman, identified as the President of the bank, whose signature likewise appears beneath his image with the title “President.” Both portraits are rendered in the characteristic intaglio style of the Canadian Bank Note Company, with fine cross-hatched shading producing strong tonal depth against the pale background. At the centre of the note sits a bold engraved numeral “10” within an ornate oval frame of guilloché latticework, surrounded by detailed geometric security patterning. Above the central motif, the full institutional name “IMPERIAL BANK OF CANADA” is printed in prominent serif capitals, with the legend “WILL PAY TO BEARER ON DEMAND” set beneath in smaller type. The date “Toronto, 3rd Jan., 1939” appears in the upper portion of the note. The serial number “E073515” is printed twice in the upper-middle section of the note, flanked by the letter “A” on each side. Denomination text reading “TEN DOLLARS” appears in bold lettering across the lower portion of the note, with the numeral “10” repeated in each corner. A repeating micro-pattern border of “10 10 10” runs along the upper and lower edges, and the printer’s imprint “CANADIAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, LIMITED” appears in small type at the very base. The overall colour of the front is a dark grey-black engraving on cream-white paper, creating a sharp, authoritative aesthetic consistent with the prestige printing standards of the era.

The reverse is printed in a deep navy blue ink on white paper and presents a bold, symmetrical composition centred on a large oval vignette depicting a crowned lion standing atop a royal crown, a heraldic device directly associated with British imperial authority and frequently employed by Canadian chartered banks to assert their connection to the Crown. The lion is rendered in fine intaglio detail, with visible engraving lines conveying the texture of its mane and the weight of the crown beneath its forepaws. Flanking the central vignette on both sides are large engraved numerals “10” set within ornate cartouches of intricate guilloché scrollwork and lathe-work patterning that fills the entire background of the note. The bank name “IMPERIAL BANK OF CANADA” runs in bold serif capitals across the top of the reverse, and “TEN DOLLARS” appears in matching capitals along the lower register. Small numeral “10” markers appear in each lower corner, consistent with the anti-counterfeiting repetition of denomination seen on the front. The guilloché border surrounding the full composition features elaborate foliate and geometric interlacing, printed with the fine registration precision that characterises Canadian Bank Note Company production of this period. The printer’s credit “CANADIAN BANK NOTE COMPANY, LIMITED” appears in small type along the bottom edge of the reverse.

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• Indicate the quantity of 10 Dollars Canadian Dollar banknotes you want to exchange
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• Your online account now shows the exchange value

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