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20 Dollars British Guiana Bank
| Issuer | British Guiana Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1902 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | Printed entirely in black ink on white paper, the obverse carries the bank title in ornate copperplate script across the top, flanked by the denomination '$20' at each upper corner. At left, a small engraved vignette within a cartouche shows a seated allegorical figure surmounted by a crown. The promise-to-pay clause and denomination 'TWENTY DOLLARS' are set in bold letterpress at centre, with the serial number appearing twice in the middle register; below, a decorative guilloche panel bears the word 'Twenty' in elaborate script, and signature lines for Manager and Director appear at the foot alongside an Accountant entry line. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in red, the reverse is composed of three concentric guilloche rosettes arranged horizontally: a large central rosette built from an intricate pattern of interlocking circles within a scalloped outer border, flanked by two smaller circular guilloche medallions each bearing the numeral '20'. The plain white paper surround is unlettered, allowing the engine-turned geometric underprint to serve as the sole anti-counterfeiting device. A perfin cancellation is visible in the lower left quadrant. |
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| Comments |
The British Guiana Bank was a short-lived colonial institution that ceased operations in the early twentieth century, and notes from this period survive almost exclusively in cancelled form — the perfin cancellation punched through the paper being the standard method of retirement rather than destruction. That practice is the reason any example exists at all; uncancelled survivors would be extraordinary.
Perkins Bacon had long experience printing currency and postage stamps for British colonial territories, their intaglio work generally holding up well under tropical conditions. British Guiana's humid climate was notoriously hard on paper issues.