1903 Dominion $50

News: Welcome to the Canadian Paper Money Forum.

hello,

does anyone have a higher-resolution scan of this mystery note?

http://www.cdnpapermoney.com/English/DoC/doc_$050.htm

I've seen this picture on the internet a few times, but never any bigger than this... surely it must've originated somewhere!  Charlton doesn't mention that this note exists at all... can anyone help?

The scan originated from a CPMS souvenir sheet.  You might still be able to buy one through the secretary, I don't know.  The "note" is a model only; it was never put into production, which is why it isn't listed in the catalogue.

Bob,the correct term is 'proof note',as it was printed to test the suitability of the design,& the quality of the engraving.Sometimes the front & back were printed on separate papers or on cardboard.On other occasions,they were printed in the same way as for a currency banknote.A proof note is to notaphily what a pattern coin is to numismatics.

Aidan,

Please be careful who you try to correct. While you are certainly not a novice yourself, I understand that Bob's knowledge is vastly extensive on almost all matters regarding Canadian paper money. His knowledge of what constitutes a proof versus a model is first-rate.

In this case though, Bob is (as usual) completely correct. The note was scanned by a sheet printed by the CPMS as a souvenir. It was never printed as "proof", the only known example of it was an original "draft" or more correctly "model" that never got far enough into real pre-production to ever have had a formal proof created.

It would be greatly appreciated if you just read and watched for awhile as your constant posts on topics are disrupting our board.

Paul

Well, I must step in here to prevent rather persistent misinformation from going any farther.  There were never any plates prepared for the 1903 $50.  
A model was not printed from plates.  It was assembled from cut-out bits of engraving and sometimes included elements drawn by hand, all put together with glue.
Its purpose was to provide a design concept.  The customer - the Finance Department in this case, but often a bank - would then decide whether or not to proceed to the engraving of plates.  The Finance Department decided to drop the project and nothing more was done.

I have often seen that people on ebay mistakenly refer to approval proofs as models. But as Bob has stated, there is no mistaking a model for anything else. It looks more like a work of art, (maybe modern art). From what I have seen modern art go for at Christie's, maybe they should be a venue for these more than numismatic auctioneers (lol) seeing as they look more like works of art than numismatic items.

..... It would be greatly appreciated if you just read and watched for awhile as your constant posts on topics are disrupting our board. Paul

I feel morally bound to come to the assistance of the accused party (Royalist0007) in this matter. Royalist0007 has just been trying to share his extensive knowledge and get some discussions going. In my opinion, it's nice to see this sort of enthusiasm. No one can be expected to know everything about everything and that's why Forums like this one are so valuable.  

Members of this Forum may not be aware that Royalist0007 is actually the Owner & Administrator of the BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NUMISMATIC FORUM that is operated out of New Zealand.

http://bcnumismaticforum.phpbbnow.com/

It's a relatively new Forum (opened in June 2006) but it looks very impressive and interesting and I've already joined it. I hope that the BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NUMISMATIC FORUM will eventually turn out to be as successful as its Canadian counterpart!




 

Time to put this one to rest.
Good information if one reads the whole thing.

Rick

Friends:
       For very nice images of both the obverse and the reverse pf the 1903  $50 note, check out  http://www.bankofcanada.ca/currencymuseum/eng/collection/view.php?objectid=1977.0170.00010.000      and  also
....objectid-1977/0170.00011.000
             To my eye these images do not appear to be pasteups but look more like actual impressions from engraved plates,  which would imply that the planning for this note was further advanced than previously surmised. 
                    This same source also shows a planned 1902  $5  note  (with obverse and reverse plates fully engraved) and a planned 1906  $5 note  (also with obverse and reverse plates fully engraved;  this note uses the same train vignette that was eventually used on the 1912 $5,  the first Dominion  $5 actually issued into circulation).     One  could wonder why nne of these notes was ever actually printed for circulation----could it have because of resistance from the chartered banks/??
                                                               Bernard Schaaf

Members of this Forum may not be aware that Royalist0007 is actually the Owner & Administrator of the BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NUMISMATIC FORUM that is operated out of New Zealand.

[link hidden]

It's a relatively new Forum (opened in June 2006) but it looks very impressive and interesting and I've already joined it. I hope that the BRITISH COMMONWEALTH NUMISMATIC FORUM will eventually turn out to be as successful as its Canadian counterpart!

I wouldn't click the link if I were you.  McAfee detected a virus on that site, and is therefore labeled red.