NORTH RUSTICO Laurel Fisher of Morell and her brother, Morgan, were cleaning out the attic of their great uncle and aunt's house when they came across a startling, and lucrative, discovery.
"We found a bunch of old stuff from the First World War artifacts and one of the things we found was a brown leather billfold with some old bills in it,'' Fisher says.
It turned out to be two bank notes, one for $1 and another for $5, originals from the Farmers Bank in North Rustico.
Morgan Fisher immediately got in touch with Judy MacDonald, president of the Friends of Farmers Bank of Rustico group.
He also got the two bank notes appraised.
"I had them appraised and it was quite a dollar value to them,'' said Morgan Fisher of Johnston's River.
The $5 bank note was valued at $14,000 while the $1 note came in close to $3,000.
"Morgan and I talked about it and we felt it was important it go back to the Farmers Bank of Rustico so we decided that that's where they would go to,'' Laurel said.
The Fisher siblings worked out a deal for "a small amount of cash'' with the rest of the value of the two notes coming in the form of a taxable donation.
"They could have got thrown in the dumpster,'' Laurel said.
The discovery of the bank notes was significant news for the Farmers Bank which is in the midst of an ambitious campaign aimed at making the national historical site more accessible, protecting the artifacts and making technological enhancements.
The Farmers Bank was active from 1864 to 1894 and launched what is known today as the credit union movement.
"We don't have any bank notes so you can imagine just how exciting this is,'' MacDonald said.
Tilmon Gallant, a member of the Friends of Farmers Bank, went a step further in describing the moment.
"This is a historic occasion for the Farmers Bank because, for the first time in its history, we have the opportunity to receive these original bank notes,'' Gallant said.
The fundraising campaign is shooting for $50,000 over the next two years. That's the Friends' contribution towards the $350,000 it will cost to do the work.
MacDonald reported on Friday that they've come up with $18,000 so far.
The goal is to complete the makeover in time for 2014 when the bank celebrates its 150th anniversary. It was in 1864 that Queen Victoria gave Royal Assent to the bank.
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