Catalog
20 Joes / 440 Guilders
| Issuer | Colony of Demerara and Essequibo |
|---|---|
| Year | 1830-1839 |
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| Currency | Guilder ( -1839) |
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| Obverse description | Typeset and manuscript colonial treasury note of the Colony of Demerara and Essequibo, with the denomination stated in both Joes and Guilders in letterpress text augmented by handwritten annotation. Official authorization inscriptions in English occupy the central field, authenticated by the manuscript signatures of colonial treasury officers. The note is entirely unembellished, with no vignette, underprint, or engraved ornament, security relying solely on official text, manuscript entries, and authorizing signatures. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | The reverse presents entirely plain, unprinted paper, consistent with the hand-cut emergency note-issuing practice of early nineteenth-century British colonial administrations, with no letterpress text, engraved design, or manuscript annotation of any kind. |
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| Comments |
Demerara and Essequibo had been under British administration since 1803, but Dutch colonial financial conventions died hard. This note's dual denomination — 20 Joes alongside its guilder equivalent — reflects a monetary system still tangled between Dutch accounting units and the practical reality of British rule, decades after the handover. The Joe, a corruption of "Johannes," derived from the Portuguese gold coin long used as a reference unit in the Guiana trade.
The colony was formally absorbed into British Guiana in 1831, meaning notes dated within this series straddle the exact moment the issuing authority itself ceased to exist.