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New Acquisitions

By: Paul S. Berry


June 23, 2015
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Loan and Building Society Share Certificates

The Canadian financial system of today is diverse; it includes participants ranging from institutions like the Bank of Canada, chartered banks and credit unions, to markets and payment systems. A little known but once prolific system member was loan and building societies. These firms made loans for the construction or purchase of property against mortgages as collateral. They also held savings accounts for clients. Originating in Eastern Canada in the 1840s, loan and building societies gradually spread across the nation so that by 1905 there were 84 such firms in 5 provinces: British Columbia, Manitoba, Ontario, Québec and Nova Scotia. Along with insurance and trust companies, they dominated mortgage lending until 1954 when Canadian banks were allowed to loan money on real estate. Recently, the National Currency Collection had the good fortune to acquire share certificates from three such companies in Toronto. Their stories follow…

Certificate

The Freehold, Loan and Savings Co. share certificate, Toronto, 1881: 17 shares totaling $1700.00. (NCC 2014.51.1)

Located at the corner of Church and Court Streets, later at Adelaide and Victoria and finally Bay Street, The Freehold, Loan and Savings Company started business in 1859. It was a public company with a branch office in Winnipeg and a capital of $839,680 in 1885. In 1900, the company merged with several other firms to become the Canada Permanent Mortgage Corporation.

Certificate

The London & Canadian Loan & Agency Co. share certificate: 225 shares. “Fourteen percent whereof amounting to the sum of fifteen hundred and seventy five dollars.” (NCC 2014.52.2)

The London & Canadian Loan & Agency Company started business in 1873. Located at 44 King Street and later on Bay Street, by 1885 it had a paid up capital of $560,000. By 1901, this number had increased to $1,000,000. The President, Sir W. P. Howland, was a well-known Toronto businessman and politician. He served as Minister of Inland Revenue from 1867–1868 when he was appointed lieutenant governor of Ontario. In 1921, the company was taken over by the Canada Permanent Mortgage Corporation.

Certificate

The Union, Loan & Savings Co. share certificate, Toronto, 1897: 9 shares at $50 per share. (NCC 2014.52.3)

The Union, Loan &Savings Company was founded in 1863. During the 1870s its head office was located on Toronto Street beside the Masonic Hall. In 1900, it merged with the Building and Loan Association to become the Toronto Mortgage Company.

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Content type(s): Blog posts

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The Museum Blog

February 26, 2025

New acquisitions—2024 edition

By: David Bergeron, Krista Broeckx


Bank of Canada Museum’s acquisitions in 2024 highlight the relationships that shape the National Currency Collection.
Content type(s): Blog posts
February 11, 2025

Money’s metaphors

By: Phillipe Audet-Cayer, Graham Iddon, Patricia Marando


Buck, broke, greenback, loonie, toonie, dough, flush, gravy train, born with a silver spoon in your mouth… No matter how common the expression for money, many of us haven’t the faintest idea where these terms come from.
Content type(s): Blog posts
August 6, 2024

Treaties, money and art

By: Krista Broeckx, Frank Shebageget


Photo, collage, a photograph and a drawing of an elderly White man in a high collar and old-fashioned suit.
The Bank of Canada Museum’s collection has a new addition: an artwork called Free Ride by Frank Shebageget. But why would a museum about the economy buy art?
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Arts, History
July 16, 2024

Rai: big money

By: Graham Iddon


An item is said to have cultural value when it can be directly associated with the history, people, beliefs or rituals important to a society. It’s the same with a rai—its value can be greater depending upon who authorized it, who carved it and who subsequently owned it.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Economy, Geography, History Grade level(s): Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
April 18, 2024

Lessons from the Great Depression

By: Graham Iddon


A welfare coupon and piece of stock ticker tape over a 1930s black and white photo of unemployed men gathering to protest.
What the stock market crash of 1929 did was starkly reveal the weaknesses of economic systems that had evolved from the unregulated capitalism of the late 19th century.
Content type(s): Blog posts Subject(s): Financial literacy, History Grade level(s): Grade 09 / Secondary 3, Grade 10 / Secondary 4, Grades 11 and 12 / Secondary 5 and CEGEP
March 25, 2024

Welcoming Newfoundland to Canada

By: David Bergeron


Newfoundland’s entry into Confederation marked the end of an era when Canadian provinces issued their own coins and paper money.
Content type(s): Blog posts

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