Catalog
1/4 Guilder - George III
| Issuer | Demerara and Essequibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1809 |
| Type | Standard circulation coin |
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| Obverse description | Draped and laureate bust of King George III facing right, rendered in fine relief with detailed hair curls bound by a laurel wreath and a ribbon tie at the nape. The truncation shows a folded drapery clasp at the shoulder. The encircling legend reads GEORGIVS III DEI GRATIA in raised Latin characters, and the entire design is bordered by a continuous beaded inner rim. |
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| Reverse description | The fractional denomination mark '1/4' is displayed in bold numerals at the centre of the field, enclosed within a wreath of two symmetrical laurel branches tied at the base. Surmounting the wreath is a St. Edward's Crown rendered in fine detail. The date 1809 appears in the lower exergual area, while the surrounding legend COLONIES OF ESSEQUEBO & DEMARARY TOKEN arcs around the periphery within a beaded border. |
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| Additional information |
Demerara and Essequibo were Dutch colonies seized by Britain in 1803, and by 1809 the colonial administration faced a chronic shortage of small change — a problem endemic to Caribbean possessions of every European power throughout this period. Rather than wait on shipments from London, local authorities issued this quarter guilder to satisfy immediate transactional demand, retaining the guilder denomination rather than converting to sterling, a concession to the Dutch-speaking merchant class still dominating the plantation economy.
The colony was formally ceded to Britain at the Congress of Vienna in 1814, after which this coinage became obsolete within a generation.