A Record-Breaking and History-Making Bank Note
A rare $2 Canadian bank note from 1870 stunned at auction, soaring past its estimate to become one of the highest-selling pieces in Canadian paper money history.
Bank note history was made after the unforgettable sale of an 1870 $2 Canadian bank note at the Stack’s Bowers Galleries “January 2025 Canadian Banknote Sale.” The note exceeded its pre-sale estimate of $360,000 ($518,000 CAD) and is now one of the highest-earning sales of Canadian paper money. According to the auction house, this record-breaking winning bid reflects the note's significance to Canadian bank note and currency history.
This Graded Choice Very Fine 35 by PMG bank note was printed when the far reaches of western Canada were in its infancy, which housed a small population in the now metropolitan city of Victoria, British Columbia. Due to the few financial institutions in the area, there was a limited circulation of paper currency.
When the Dominion of Canada issued this note in 1870, only 24,000 were printed and shipped to the Pacific Coast. However, the notes never reached their destination, and they were presumed lost during travel. Prior to this auction, the note's designation "Payable at Victoria" was a detail absent from records, as the existence of a Victoria-payable $2 note was questionable at best. However, after the discovery of this note in Europe, this only known example is rewriting history.
"We are thrilled to have had the opportunity to offer such an extraordinary piece to the collecting community," says Director of World Paper Money at Stack's Bowers Galleries Aris Maragoudakis. "This discovery has captured the attention of bank note collectors worldwide, and the final price of $360,000 reflects a thriving market that appreciates true rarities."
For more information about this monumental sale, visit the Stack's Bowers website.
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