The Dominion Bank opened its doors to the public in Toronto in 1871, with a capital $1,000,000. The period of economic prosperity brought on by the activities of the Canadian Pacific Railway in the 1880s proved to be a boon, and the bank continued to pay steady dividends through the financial upheavals of the following years. In 1955, the Dominion bank amalgamated with the Bank of Toronto (initially established in 1855 to serve the rural areas of Toronto), to become the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The merger was a unique "marriage of equals", as among the nine major banks in operation at the time, neither had ever taken over or merged with another institution.

This 1925 Dominion Bank $20 is a scarce high denomination of a very collectible issue.