Canadian pound

The pound (symbol £ or C£) was the unit of account for currency of the Canadas until 1858. It was subdivided into 20 shillings (s), each of 12 pence (d). In Lower Canada, the sou was used, worth ¹⁄₂ penny. Although the pounds, shillings, and pence accounting system had its origins in the British pound sterling, the Canadian pound was never linked to British currency.

History

In North America, the scarcity of British coins led to the widespread use of Spanish dollars. These Spanish dollars were accommodated into a pounds, shillings, and pence (£sd) accounts system, by setting a valuation for these coins in terms of a pound unit. At one stage, two such units were in widespread use in the British North American colonies. The Halifax rating dominated, and it set the Spanish dollar equal to 5 shillings. As this was 6 pence more than its value in silver, the Halifax pound was consequently lower in value than the pound sterling which was actually the original basis for the pounds, shillings, and pence accounting system. The York rating of 1 Spanish dollar = 8 shillings was used in Upper Canada, officially until its outlawing in 1796, but unofficially well into the 19th century.

In 1825, an Imperial order-in-council was introduced for the purposes of causing sterling-specie coinage to circulate in the colonies. The idea was that this order-in-council would make the sterling coins legal tender at the exchange rate of 4s 4d per Spanish dollar. This rate was in fact unrealistic and it had the adverse effect of actually driving out what little sterling-specie coinage was already circulating. Remedial legislation was introduced in 1838 but it was not applied to the British North American colonies due to recent minor rebellions in Upper and Lower Canada.

In 1841, the Province of Canada adopted a new system based on the Halifax rating. The new Canadian pound was equal to 4 U.S. dollars (92.88 grains gold), making one pound sterling equal to £1 4s 4d Canadian. Thus, the new Canadian pound was worth 16s 5.3d sterling. The earliest Canadian postage stamps were denominated in this Halifax unit.

An 1851 Canadian postage 3d-denominated postage stamp in pounds, shillings, and pence units of the Halifax rating

The 1850s was a decade of wrangling over whether to adopt a sterling monetary system or a decimal monetary system based on the US dollar. The local population, for reasons of practicality in relation to the increasing trade with the neighbouring United States, had an overwhelming desire to assimilate the Canadian currency with the American unit, but the imperial authorities in London still preferred the idea of sterling to be the sole currency throughout the British Empire. In 1851, the Canadian parliament passed an act for the purposes of introducing a sterling unit in conjunction with decimal fractional coinage. The idea was that the decimal coins would correspond to exact amounts in relation to the US dollar fractional coinage. The authorities in London refused to give consent to the act on technical grounds. This was the last time that the imperial authorities in London ever questioned Canada's internal jurisdiction.

As a compromise, in 1853 an act of the Canadian parliament introduced the gold standard into Canada, based on both the British gold sovereign and the American gold eagle coins. This gold standard was introduced with the gold sovereign being legal tender at £1 = US$4.86 ²⁄₃. No coinage was provided for under the 1853 act. Sterling coinage was made legal tender and all other silver coins were demonetized. Dollar transactions were legalized. The British government in principle allowed for a decimal coinage but nevertheless held out the hope that a sterling unit would be chosen under the name of royal. However, in 1857 the decision was made to introduce a decimal coinage into Canada in conjunction with the US dollar unit. Hence, when the new decimal coins were introduced in 1858, Canada's currency became aligned with the US currency, although the British gold sovereign continued to remain legal tender at the rate of £1 = 4.86 ²⁄₃ right up until the 1890s. In 1859, Canadian postage stamps were issued with decimal denominations for the first time.

In the year 1861, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia followed Canada in adopting a decimal system based on the US dollar. In the following year, Canadian postage stamps were issued with the denominations shown in dollars and cents.

In 1865, Newfoundland introduced the gold standard in conjunction with decimal coinage, but unlike in the cases of the Province of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, it decided to adopt a unit based on the Spanish dollar rather than on the US dollar, and there was a slight difference between these two units. The US dollar was created in 1792 on the basis of the average weight of a selection of worn Spanish dollars. As such, the Spanish dollar was at a slight discount to the US dollar, and likewise, the Newfoundland dollar, while it existed, was at a slight discount to the Canadian dollar. Newfoundland was the only part of the British Empire to introduce its own gold standard coin. A Newfoundland gold two dollar coin was minted intermittently until Newfoundland finally adopted the Canadian monetary system in 1894, following the Newfoundland banking crash.

In 1867, Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia united in a federation called the Dominion of Canada and the three currencies were united.

In 1871, Prince Edward Island went decimal within the US dollar unit and introduced coins for 1 cent. However, the currency of Prince Edward Island was absorbed into the Canadian system shortly afterwards when Prince Edward island joined the Dominion of Canada.

Coins

One Penny (2 Sous) bank token issued by City Bank in Lower Canada in 1837.

Both Upper Canada (Canada West, modern southern Ontario) and Lower Canada (Canada East, modern southern Quebec) issued copper tokens. Between 1835 and 1852, the Bank of Montreal, the Banque du Peuple, the City Bank and the Quebec Bank issued 1- and 2-sou (¹⁄₂- and 1-penny) tokens for use in Lower Canada. The Bank of Upper Canada issued ¹⁄₂- and 1-penny tokens between 1850 and 1857.

Banknotes

On notes issued by the chartered banks, denominations were given in both dollars and pounds/shillings, with £1 = $4 and $1 = 5s. Many banks issued notes, starting with the Bank of Montreal in 1817. See Canadian chartered bank notes for more details. Denominations included 5s, 10s, 15s, £1, £1 ¹⁄₄, £2 ¹⁄₂, £5, £12 ¹⁄₂ and £25. In addition, small value, "scrip" notes were issued in 1837, by the Quebec Bank, in denominations of 6d (12 sous), $¹⁄₄ (30 sous, 1s 3d) and $¹⁄₂ (60 sous, 2s 6d), and by Arman's Bank, in denominations of 5d, 10d and 15d (10, 20 and 30 sous).

References

Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (1978). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1979 Edition. Colin R. Bruce II (senior editor) (5th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873410203.
Pick, Albert (1990). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Specialized Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (6th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-149-8.

External links

Canadian banknotes and coins

Canadian coinage	1¢ (penny) 5¢ (nickel) 10¢ (dime) 25¢ (quarter) 50¢ (50-cent piece) $1 (Voyageur dollar) $1 (loonie) $2 (toonie)

Commemorative coins	Royal Canadian Mint numismatic coins Royal Canadian Mint numismatic coins (2000s) Royal Canadian Mint numismatic coins (2010s) Royal Canadian Mint ice hockey coins Royal Canadian Mint Olympic coins Royal Canadian Mint RCMP coins Silver dollar Gold Maple Leaf Silver Maple Leaf Platinum Maple Leaf Palladium Maple Leaf Ottawa Mint sovereign

Canadian banknotes	$5 $10 $20 $50 $100 Withdrawn banknotes

Canadian banknotes by Series	1935 Series 1937 Series 1954 Series Scenes of Canada Birds of Canada Canadian Journey Series Frontier Series

Historical currencies of Canada	New France livre Canadian pound New Brunswick pound Newfoundland pound Nova Scotian pound Prince Edward Island pound British Columbia dollar New Brunswick dollar Nova Scotian dollar Prince Edward Island dollar Newfoundland dollar Early Canadian banking system

Newfoundland dollar	1¢ 5¢ 10¢ 20¢ 25¢ 50¢ $2 Coins of the Newfoundland dollar

Organizations and institutions	Bank of Canada Canadian Bank Note Company Royal Canadian Numismatic Association Canadian Numismatic Association medals and awards Canadian Paper Money Society Currency Museum Royal Canadian Mint

Community currencies	Calgary dollar Toronto dollar Canadian Tire money Salt Spring dollar Pioneer Bonus Bucks Mac's Dollars (Whitehorse, YT)

Other	Canadian dollar History of Canadian currency List of people on coins of Canada List of foreign countries with coinage struck at the Royal Canadian Mint Royal Canadian Mint tokens and medallions

Currencies named pound or similar

Current	Pound sterling: (Alderney pound • Falkland Islands pound • Gibraltar pound • Guernsey pound • Jersey pound • Manx pound • Saint Helena pound) Egyptian pound Lebanese pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound Turkish lira

Local alternative currency	Bristol Pound Brixton Pound Lewes Pound Stroud Pound Totnes Pound

Defunct	Anglo-Saxon pound Australian pound Bahamian pound Bermudian pound Biafran pound British West African pound Canadian pound Connecticut pound Cypriot pound Delaware pound Fijian pound French livre French colonial livre Gambian pound Georgia pound Ghanaian pound Haitian livre Irish pound Israeli pound Italian lira Jamaican pound Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound Libyan pound Livre tournois Lombardo-Venetian pound Luccan pound Malawian pound Maltese pound Maltese lira Maryland pound Massachusetts pound New Brunswick pound New France livre New Guinean pound New Hampshire pound New Jersey pound New York pound New Zealand pound Newfoundland pound Nigerian pound North Carolina pound Nova Scotian pound Oceanian pound Ottoman lira Palestine pound Papal lira Paris livre Parman lira Pennsylvania pound Pound Scots Prince Edward Island pound Rhode Island pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound Sammarinese lira Sardinian lira Solomon Islands pound South Carolina pound Southern Rhodesian pound South African pound South African Republic pound South West African pound Tongan pound Tuscan pound Vatican lira Virginia pound West Indian pound Western Samoan pound Zambian pound

See also	Dinar Pound sign Troy pound

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