Catalog
100 Dollars Government Issue
| Issuer | Government of British Guiana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1942 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| 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 | Rectangular |
| 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 | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed in yellow on a light ground, the reverse centres on an oval portrait vignette of King George VI in facing bust, set within an intricate guilloche frame. Denomination numerals "100" appear in ornate cartouches to the left and right of the central portrait, with elaborate lathe-work scrollwork covering the field. |
| Reverse lettering | 100 100 WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, LONDON |
| 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 |
British Guiana's wartime currency was issued under emergency authority rather than through the usual colonial banking channel, the British Guiana Bank. The Government of British Guiana stepped in directly — an unusual arrangement driven by the disruptions of the Second World War to normal monetary supply chains across British Caribbean territories.
Waterlow & Sons printed the series in London, but wartime shipping made delivery precarious. At the $100 denomination, circulation would have been extremely limited — a sum exceeding most monthly wages in the colony at the time — so surviving examples were rarely subjected to heavy use.