Canadian pound

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The Canadian pound ( English Canadian pound ; CAP) was the valid national currency in the province of Canada in the first half of the 19th century . Like the British pound , the Canadian pound was divided into 20 shillings of 12 pence each.

history

The first attempt to establish a bank in what is now Canada took place in Montreal in 1792. In 1817 and 1818 three private banks were founded, all based on the model of the First Bank founded in 1791 in the USA, one was even owned by the US. All banks issued money, which was initially an insecure system. The British government allowed the provinces to establish banks, first the Bank of New Brunswick in 1820, the next year the Bank of Upper Canada , the following year the Bank of Montreal . By 1840, 18 banks were licensed, 7 of them in Montreal alone. The economic influence of the United States gradually led to a decoupling from the British pound sterling . In 1841 it was decided in the province of Canada to set the value of the Canadian pound at 4 US dollars according to the Halifax rating . In 1858 a decimal currency, the Canadian dollar, was introduced in the province of Canada . The provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia followed in 1861 . With the Uniform Currency Act / Loi sur l'uniformité de la monnaie in April 1871, the dollar was introduced throughout the Dominion of Canada. The Canadian provinces thus all received a single currency.

Individual evidence

  1. History of the Banking system of Canada [to 1948], in: L'Encyclopédie de l'histoire du Québec / The Quebec History Encyclopedia