ORNAMENTING THE FACADE OF HELL - ICONOGRAPHIES OF 19TH-CENTURY CANADIAN PAPER MONEY

In this paper I explore the iconographies on 19th-century Canadian pap er money. Drawing upon the recent debates regarding the intersection o f culture, society, and economy, it is argued that the form of paper m oney conveys not only economic but social and cultural values. The pap er is divided into three parts. The first section situates Canadian pa per currency in terms of the consolidation of paper monies more genera lly in the 18th and 19th centuries, but with particular reference to B ritain and the United States. I then turn to a more specific analysis of the design and production of paper money, illustrating how monetary images were transferred among artistic media. A third section focuses on some of the spatial aspects of paper money by exploring national a nd imperial monetary narratives which are in turn related to specific monetary practices. In a brief conclusion the importance of an histori cal analysis to our contemporary understanding of paper and other kind s of monies is outlined and points to our complicity in economic, soci al, and cultural networks.