Catalog
1 Joe / 22 Guilders
| Issuer | Colony of Demerara and Essequibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1830 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | P#A1 |
| Obverse description | The obverse of this early colonial issued note is a plain letterpress-printed note on aged paper, with printed text lines carrying the denomination and promise-to-pay obligation of the colony. The layout follows a traditional promissory note format typical of early 19th-century British colonial currency, with manuscript annotations and handwritten signatures completing the instrument. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
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| Reverse lettering | 1 Joe 1830 |
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| Comments |
The Colony of Demerara and Essequibo had an unusual monetary situation in the early nineteenth century — its everyday commerce ran on a mix of Dutch guilders, British sterling, and locally issued scrip, with the "joe" (a corrupted form of "Johannes," the Portuguese gold coin) serving as a unit of account long after the physical coins had effectively disappeared from circulation. This note's dual denomination — 1 Joe / 22 Guilders — reflects that transitional arithmetic directly, anchoring a ghost currency to a working one.
Pick lists this as A1, meaning no earlier catalogued paper issue for the colony is known. British Guiana formally absorbed Demerara and Essequibo in 1831, the year after this note was printed, which gives it an exceptionally narrow issue window.