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FUN Signature Currency Sale 4028 21-22 Jan 2021
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Canada St. John's, NF- R.G. Reid $5 1.2.1894 Pick UNL NL 70-10-08 PMG Very Fine 25. Robert Gillespie Reid was a Scottish immigrant who arrived in Canada in 1871. This is where he would begin his career as a contractor, particularly in railroad and bridge construction. He is credited for building a section of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the international bridge over the Niagara River. Around 1889, he took on railway construction in Newfoundland. He received a government contract to build a railway from Whitbourne to Port Aux Basques. This project employed 1,800 workers who received $6 per week for 60 hours of work. By 1893, Reid took over railway operations for the entire province, further expanding his payroll and his footprint on the province's history. The Depression of 1892 hit Newfoundland hardest in 1894. Two of the three banks in the region failed, and cash shortages were rampant. To keep his workers paid, Reid issues his own scrip, which could be used to buy goods at makeshift tents close to the railway worksites. Redeeming the scrip for cash required a trip to the company's Water Street offices in St. John's. Reid's business interests and negotiations with the government to shore up finances in the region left him with the winning hand in most transactions. At the time of his death, he owned one in six acres of land in the province, as well as the railways, telegraph, mail steamers, and even the hydro-electric system. This is an important part of Newfoundland history and an incredibly scarce item. Ten $5 examples are known, seven of which are fully issued. Three of those are in institutions, leaving just four issued examples available to collectors. https://currency.ha.com/itm/world-currency/canada-st-john-s-nf-rg-reid-5-121894-pick-unl-nl-70-10-08-pmg-very-fine-25/p/4028-51007.s?type=CoinArchivesCurrency4028 HID08706262019 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1600-2400 USD
Canada St. John's, NF- R.G. Reid $5 1.2.1894 Pick UNL NL 70-10-08 PMG Very Fine 25. Robert Gillespie Reid was a Scottish immigrant who arrived in Canada in 1871. This is where he would begin his career as a contractor, particularly in railroad and bridge construction. He is credited for building a section of the Canadian Pacific Railway and the international bridge over the Niagara River. Around 1889, he took on railway construction in Newfoundland. He received a government contract to build a railway from Whitbourne to Port Aux Basques. This project employed 1,800 workers who received $6 per week for 60 hours of work. By 1893, Reid took over railway operations for the entire province, further expanding his payroll and his footprint on the province's history. The Depression of 1892 hit Newfoundland hardest in 1894. Two of the three banks in the region failed, and cash shortages were rampant. To keep his workers paid, Reid issues his own scrip, which could be used to buy goods at makeshift tents close to the railway worksites. Redeeming the scrip for cash required a trip to the company's Water Street offices in St. John's. Reid's business interests and negotiations with the government to shore up finances in the region left him with the winning hand in most transactions. At the time of his death, he owned one in six acres of land in the province, as well as the railways, telegraph, mail steamers, and even the hydro-electric system. This is an important part of Newfoundland history and an incredibly scarce item. Ten $5 examples are known, seven of which are fully issued. Three of those are in institutions, leaving just four issued examples available to collectors. https://currency.ha.com/itm/world-currency/canada-st-john-s-nf-rg-reid-5-121894-pick-unl-nl-70-10-08-pmg-very-fine-25/p/4028-51007.s?type=CoinArchivesCurrency4028 HID08706262019 © 2020 Heritage Auctions | All Rights Reserved
Estimate: 1600-2400 USD