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1/2 Gulden Silver voucher
| Issuer | Surinaamsche Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1920 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 1/2 Guilder (1/2 Gulden) (1/2 SRG) |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Brown letterpress on plain paper. The face carries the large central denomination inscription ZILVERBON and GROOT EEN HALVEN GULDEN with the numeral 0.50 in the centre, flanked by ornamental guilloche cornerpieces bearing the value 0.50 at each corner. Series and serial number appear in the upper panel, with two manuscript signatures of the Acting Administrator of Finance and the Acting Governor of Suriname below the text block. The legend WETTIG BETAALMIDDEL runs along the lower portion within a ruled border, and a cautionary anti-counterfeiting notice appears at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse is uniface, printed on plain paper with no design elements. Show-through of the red serial number stamp from the obverse is visible near the upper left when held to light, consistent with the thin paper stock used for this emergency silver voucher issue. |
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| Comments |
The Surinaamsche Bank issued these small-denomination silver vouchers to address a persistent coin shortage in the colony — a problem that plagued Dutch Suriname throughout the early twentieth century as small silver coinage regularly drained out of circulation. The "zilverbons" framing meant the notes were nominally backed by and redeemable for silver, a reassurance aimed at a public that routinely distrusted low-value paper.
Enschedé had been printing for Dutch colonial issuers for generations by this point, and the Haarlem press's work on this series is characteristically tight. The half-gulden denomination made these among the smallest-value circulating notes the bank produced.