Catalog
1 Dollar Government Issue
| Issuer | Government of British Guiana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1929-1936 |
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| Value | 1 Dollar |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH GUIANA GEORGETOWN. 1st. JANUARY, 1929 PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF ONE DOLLAR WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, LONDON WALL, LONDON |
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| Reverse lettering | WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED LONDON WALL, LONDON 1 1 |
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| Comments |
British Guiana's government currency notes — as distinct from the colonial bank issues — occupied an awkward administrative space. The Treasury operated its own note circulation alongside the British Guiana Bank, and these small-denomination government dollars were the workhorses of day-to-day trade in a colony whose economy ran heavily on sugar estate wages and Georgetown market transactions.
Waterlow & Sons held the printing contract through much of the interwar period. The 1929–1936 date range spans the worst years of the Depression, when colonial treasuries across the Caribbean were squeezed between falling commodity prices and London's reluctance to extend credit.