Description
NOVA SCOTIA Halifax John Albro & Co 1820 One Dollar / Five Shillings NS-05-10-02 BCS Fine-12
We can only speculate that this note would have been signed by John Albro as there are known notes with a signature, all have been cancelled.
The following is from Robert J. Graham's Canadian Merchant Scrip
John Albro (1764 - 1839) began his career as a tanner but by 1812 had established himself as a rising hardware merchant in Halifax, eventually speacialising in the hardware line. Albro represented the town of Halifax as a member of the Legislative Assembly, where he supported banking legislation. He was also involved in the formation of the Halifax Steam Boat Company in 1815. John Albro Masonic Lodge in Halifax was named in his memory.
His $1.00 (five shillings) note of 1820 was printed from a copper plate engraved locally by Charles W. Torbett, 112 Granville St., Halifax. Torbett was an engraver of impressive out put, encompassing maps, bookplates and treasury notes.
The letters ALBRO appear in cypher form in an ornamental panel at the left side of the note. On the note face it is stated that the note was redeemable in gold or provincial treasury notes, but does not indicate if this was at the option of the of the holder or the issuer. Treasury notes often circulated at a discount relative to specie, so the question was of importance. (it will be observed that silver coin was not mentioned. Nova Scotia overvalued the gold doubloon relative to silver coin, driving the latter out of circulation. The resulting inconvenience may have prompted Albro to issue his one [Spanish-American] dollar note)
All known notes re cancelled by having the signature area cut out.
In 1793, he married Elizabeth Margaret Vandergrift. He married Elizabeth Margaret Dupuy in 1803. He helped establish the Fire Insurance Association of Halifax in 1809. Albro was a grand master in the freemasons. He also served as a road commissioner and fire warden for Halifax and reached the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the local militia. He was a member of the Charitable Irish Society of Halifax. He was defeated in a bid for re-election to the House of Assembly in 1826. Albro died in Halifax at the age of seventy-five.
Albro is a descendant of early Rhode Island settlers John Albro and Samuel Wilbore, as well as Wilbore's son, Samuel Wilbur, Jr. He also descends from the first Innkeeper of Boston, Massachusetts, Samuel Cole, and from Indian captive Susanna (Hutchinson) Cole, her father, Rhode Island magistrate William Hutchinson, and his famous wife, the religious heretic, Anne Hutchinson.
Nova Scotia issued scrip is rare. The notes available to collectors are few, and several notes are known to have existed based on being reported in documents, but no notes are known to have survived i.e. John A. Barry, H. H. Cogswell, Adam Esson, Henry G. Farish, William Lawson, George Legget and William Smith.
This note was lot 3038 in Charles Moore's 2015 The Canadian Legacy Sale II. In the past decade I have seen only four offerings of this note.
