Catalog
20 Dollars - Elizabeth II
| Issuer | Bermuda Monetary Authority |
|---|---|
| Year | 1989 |
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| Value | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Thomas De La Rue & Company, London, United Kingdom |
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| Obverse description | Green intaglio print over multicolour guilloche underprint, with black serial numbers, date, and signatures. A front-facing portrait of Queen Elizabeth II wearing the Vladimir Tiara and the Queen Victoria Jubilee Necklace occupies the centre-right, while a floral vignette appears at centre and a white-eyed vireo (Vireo griseus) perches at lower right. A square see-through registration device is positioned at left-centre. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Red and green intaglio print over multicolour guilloche underprint. At left, a vignette depicts two men in a traditional boat at Somerset Bridge; the coat of arms of Bermuda is positioned at upper left. |
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| Comments |
The Bermuda Monetary Authority was established in 1969, replacing the Bermuda Currency Board, and took over note issuance just as the island severed its currency's par link with sterling following Britain's devaluation in 1967. By 1989, the BMA had anchored the Bermudian dollar at strict one-to-one parity with the US dollar — a peg that remains in force today and is backed by 100% foreign reserve cover, an unusually rigid arrangement for any issuing authority.
De La Rue's involvement with Bermuda's notes stretches back to the earliest Currency Board issues, making this a long-running commercial relationship rather than a one-off commission. The P#37 series carries only a basic watermark as its principal security feature, modest even by late-1980s standards.