Catalog
2 Joes of 22 Guilders Each
| Issuer | Colony of Demerara and Essequibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1830-1839 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Central vignette of a standing female allegorical figure in classical dress, turned to the right, with a barrel and anchor at her feet symbolizing trade and maritime commerce. In the background, sailing vessels at sea and a windmill atop a hill are rendered in fine line engraving. The overall composition is typical of early nineteenth-century colonial currency design. |
|---|---|
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| Comments |
The "Joe" — short for Johannes, the Portuguese gold coin — was used as a unit of account across several Caribbean and South American colonies well into the nineteenth century, long after the coins themselves had largely disappeared from circulation. Demerara and Essequibo, under British administration from 1814, operated a currency system that remained stubbornly hybrid: sterling, Dutch guilders, and Iberian coin denominations coexisted on the same instruments simultaneously.
This note's denomination — two Joes valued at 22 guilders each — is a direct artifact of that colonial monetary tangle. The guilder peg reflects the Dutch colonial inheritance; the Joe nomenclature, the older trade coin culture of the Atlantic littoral. British administrators never fully rationalized the system before the colonies merged into British Guiana in 1831.