offices for their notes across the country, which meant that bank notes no longer traded at a discount if they were far from a branch of the bank. Dominion "Bank legal" Notes In 1896, the federal government began to issue large denomination notes whose usage was restricted to the chartered banks. Their purpose was to assist the banks in maintaining their reserves of Dominion notes, as required by the Bank Act, and also to assist the banks in settling their cash balances with each other. The notes stated on their face that they were "Legal tender note for use by Banks only", which led to their common name, "Bank legals". Bank legals ceased to be issued after the establishment of the Bank of Canada. The issues were as follows: 1896: denominations of five hundred dollars (featuring the Marquess of Lorne), one thousand dollars (Queen Victoria), and five thousand dollars (John A. Macdonald); 1901: denominations of one thousand dollars (featuring Lord Roberts) and five thousand dollars (Queen Victoria); 1918: denominations of five thousand dollars (featuring Queen Victoria) and fifty thousand dollars (King George V and Queen Mary); 1924: denominations of one thousand dollars (featuring Lord Roberts), five thousand dollars (Queen Victoria), and fifty thousand dollars (King George V and Queen Mary). Establishment of the Royal Canadian Mint During the British colonial period, the colonies were generally prohibited from minting their own coins. They obtained them by purchase from the Royal Mint in London. After Confederation, the first Canadian coins were also minted in London, but the possibility of a Canadian mint began to be raised in public debates. Under the British Coinage Act, 1870, the British government could establish branches of the Royal Mint in overseas British possessions. In 1901, the Canadian Parliament passed an Act to pay for the expenses of a local branch of the Royal Mint, up to $75,000 annually, upon the establishment of a branch by the British government. In 1907, the British government established a branch of the Royal Mint at Ottawa, to be operated at the expense of the Canadian government, by means of a royal proclamation under the Coinage Act, 1870. At the formal opening of the Ottawa branch of the Royal Mint on January 2, 1908, the Governor General, Earl Grey, struck the first coin minted in Canada: a silver 50 cent piece, bearing the effigy of King Edward VII. The second coin