Catalog
10 Joes = 220 Guilders
| Issuer | Court of Policy of the Colonies of Demerary and Essequebo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1830 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | £220 Good with the Colonies of DEMERARY and ESSEQUEBO for TEN JOES or 220 GUILDERS Demerary In the name of the Court of Policy combined with the Financial Representatives of the aforesaid Colonies Colonial Receiver |
| Reverse description | The reverse is largely plain, printed on white paper with only faint ghosting of the obverse text visible through the sheet. A small ornamental guilloche vignette in brown ink is positioned in the lower left corner, serving as a decorative security element; the remainder of the surface is unprinted. |
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| Comments |
The Court of Policy — a legislative body inherited from Dutch colonial administration and retained under British rule after 1803 — retained the authority to issue paper currency in Demerary and Essequebo well into the nineteenth century, an unusual arrangement that persisted because London had not yet imposed a unified monetary framework on its Guiana territories. The denomination itself reflects the monetary confusion of the period: the "Joe," a corruption of "Johannes," was a Portuguese gold coin widely used as a unit of account across the Caribbean and South American littoral long after actual Johanneses had ceased to circulate.
The fixed equivalence of 22 guilders to one Joe printed on this note anchors it firmly in the Dutch accounting tradition that continued in daily commerce decades after the British flag went up.