Catalog
20 Dollars Colonial Bank
| Issuer | Colonial Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1917 |
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| Shape | Rectangular |
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| Obverse description | The supported Royal Arms vignette is centred on the note, flanked by the denomination TWENTY in vertical letterpress on both left and right margins. The issuer title COLONIAL BANK arches across the top, with the place of issue GEORGETOWN DEMERARA at lower left and the serial number in red at upper left and lower right. The date 1st February 1917 appears at lower right, with manuscript signatures below the central vignette. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COLONIAL BANK PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND AT ITS OFFICE HERE INCORPORATED BY ROYAL CHARTER 1836 TWENTY DOLLARS GEORGETOWN DEMERARA |
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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.