Catalog
20 Joes = 440 Guilders
| Issuer | Court of Policy of the Colonies of Demerary and Essequebo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1830 |
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| Reference(s) | P#5 |
| Obverse description | Printed in orange-brown on cream paper, the note carries the central text panel reading "TWENTY JOES OR 440 GUILDERS" within a ruled border, above the colony names "DEMERARY and ESSEQUEBO" in large ornamental script. An elaborate guilloche scroll border runs along the left margin, while the upper portion bears the denomination "440" at each corner and the inscription "On Colonial and Undersecurity / Good within the Colonies"; below, a formal authority text reads "In the name of the Court of Policy combined with the Financial Representatives of the aforesaid Colonies," with "Colonial Receiver" at foot and "Demerary" to the lower left. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | £440 On Colonial and Undersecurity Good within the Colonies of DEMERARY and ESSEQUEBO FOR TWENTY JOES OR 440 GUILDERS Demerary In the name of the Court of Policy combined with the Financial Representatives of the aforesaid Colonies Colonial Receiver |
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| Comments |
The "Joe" — from the Portuguese Johannes, the gold coin widely traded in the Atlantic world — was used here as an accounting unit of value rather than anything physically minted by the colony. Twenty Joes rendered as 440 Guilders reflects the dual-currency arithmetic that colonial Dutch Guiana ran on well into the nineteenth century, long after the Dutch West India Company had ceased to function and the British had taken formal possession of the territory.
By 1830 the Court of Policy was administering Demerara and Essequibo under British rule but still issuing notes denominated in the old Dutch colonial reckoning. That institutional inertia is the real story here — this is paper money issued by a Dutch-origin governing body, in a British colony, denominated in a Portuguese coin equivalent. Pick 5 is not a common piece.