Catalog
20 Dollars Colonial Bank
| Issuer | Colonial Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Composition | Log in to see details |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COLONIAL BANK PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND AT ITS OFFICE HERE INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1836 TWENTY DOLLARS GEORGETOWN DEMERARA |
| Reverse description | The supported Royal Arms vignette is again centred, set within a plain border with the issuer name and incorporation legend arranged around it. The overall design is simple and typographic, relying on the arms as the principal decorative element. |
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| Comments |
The Colonial Bank operated across the British West Indies and British Guiana from its 1836 founding until its absorption into Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) in 1926. By 1917, the bank was still printing through Perkins, Bacon & Petch in London — the same firm that had produced postage stamps and security documents for much of the British Empire since the early nineteenth century. Perkins, Bacon's intaglio work was chosen precisely because colonial currency was difficult to police against forgery in dispersed island territories.
The S127 series is scarce. Wartime shipping disruptions between Britain and the Caribbean almost certainly complicated distribution, and surviving examples in any condition are rarely encountered at auction.