Catalog
1 Pound
| Issuer | States of Guernsey |
|---|---|
| Year | 1854-1864 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Black letterpress text on white paper. The upper portion carries the word 'Guernsey' in elaborate copperplate script at centre, flanked by two allegorical female figures with a heraldic shield between them, and two oval 'ONE' counters at the upper corners. The main text reads 'THE STATES OF GUERNSEY Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand ONE POUND Value received By Authority of the States', with the denomination 'One Pound' repeated in script at lower left above the manuscript signatures. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Guernsey THE STATES OF GUERNSEY Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand ONE POUND Value received By Authority of the States One Pound ONE |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
The States of Guernsey began issuing their own paper currency in 1827, decades before most Crown Dependencies had any formal note-issuing apparatus. This early £1 belongs to a period when the island's monetary arrangements were genuinely anomalous — Guernsey operated outside the Bank of England's jurisdiction and maintained its own distinct currency system, a situation that generated periodic friction with British Treasury officials throughout the mid-nineteenth century.
The A2 designation reflects surviving documentation rather than a clean cataloguing sequence — earlier Guernsey issues from this period are poorly attested, and the precise boundaries between related series remain debated among specialists.