Catalog
1/2 Gulden Silver voucher
| Issuer | Suriname (Government) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918 |
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| Currency | Guilder (1826-2003) |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress on a dense guilloche underprint covering the entire face. The country title 'SURINAME' runs across the top within a decorative border, below which 'ZILVERBON' appears in large display lettering, followed by the denomination legend 'GROOT EEN HALVEN GULDEN'; the central value numeral '0.50' is printed in bold, flanked by text authorising acceptance at the Surinaamsche Bank and all government offices and confirming redeemability in silver. A red series letter and serial number appear at upper left and right respectively, two manuscript signatures in the lower centre are dated '28 November 1918', and the foot of the note bears the legend 'WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL' alongside an anti-counterfeiting warning. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | SURINAME ZILVERBON GROOT EEN HALVEN GULDEN Wordt ter betaling aangenomen door de Surinaamsche Bank en aan alle Landskantoren. Inwisselbaar in zilver na aankondiging. Geregistreerd aarc., 28 November 1918. De wnd. Administrateur van Financiën, De Gouverneur van Suriname, WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL Namaak of vervalsching is strafbaar met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste negen jaren. (Translation: SURINAME SILVER VOUCHER GROOT ONE HALF GULDEN Is accepted for payment by the Surinaamsche Bank and at all Government offices. Redeemable in silver upon announcement. Registered, 28 November 1918. The Acting Administrator of Finance, The Governor of Suriname, LEGAL TENDER Forgery or falsification is punishable by imprisonment of up to nine years.) |
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| Comments |
The designation "silver voucher" (zilverbonnetje in Dutch) is precise — these notes were explicitly backed by silver coin reserves held in the colony, a guarantee the government felt compelled to make explicit at a time when wartime shipping disruptions had severely restricted the flow of hard currency between Suriname and the Netherlands. Small-denomination metal coinage simply wasn't reaching the colony reliably by 1918, and these fractional paper pieces filled the gap left by vanishing silver.
Enschedé in Haarlem had been the Dutch colonial government's trusted printer for generations. The plates never left the Netherlands.