Canadian one-cent coin finally was issued. First Canadian notes The new Canadian government issued its first notes in 1870. The first issue was in denominations of twenty-five cents (nicknamed a "shinplaster"), one dollar and two dollars. The twenty-five cent note featured Britannia, the one-dollar note featured Jacques Cartier, and the two-dollar note featured General James Wolfe and the Marquis de Montcalm. The twenty-five cent note was issued as a temporary expedient, while the government waited for a shipment of twenty-five cent coins from the Royal Mint in London. However, the twenty-five cent note proved so popular that it continued in circulation for the next sixty-five years, with new versions in 1900 and 1923. In 1871, the federal government issued notes for five hundred dollars and one thousand dollars, featuring Queen Victoria on the five hundred-dollar note and an allegorical female figure with the arms of Canada on the one thousand-dollar note. In 1872, the government issued a fifty dollar note, featuring Mercury, the Roman god of commerce, and a one hundred-dollar note, featuring the Centre Block of the Parliament buildings. A two-dollar note was issued in 1878, featuring the Governor General, the Earl of Dufferin. This was followed in 1882 by a four-dollar note featuring the then Governor general, the Marquess of Lorne. Chartered bank notes Under the new Bank Act passed in 1871, the chartered banks were limited to issuing notes in denominations of four dollars and over. To avoid using the one- and two-dollar notes issued by the government, some banks took to issuing notes in odd denominations, such as six-dollar and seven-dollar notes. This meant that they could carry out transactions without having to obtain the government notes, and maximize the circulation of their own notes. The government closed off this loophole in 1880. By an amendment to the Bank Act, Parliament provided that the banks could only issue notes in denominations of five dollars and higher, and also only in multiples of five dollars.<ref>An Act to amend "An Act relating to Banks and Banking", and to continue for a limited time the charters of certain Banks to which the said Act applies," Statutes of Canada 1880, c. 22, s. 12.</ref> The amendment Act also provided, for the first time, that the bank notes were a first charge on the assets of a bank, in case of insolvency. In 1890, the banks were required to operate redemption