Catalog
250 Gulden
| Issuer | De Curaçaosche Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1918-1920 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Plain orange-toned paper with a fine overall craquelure-pattern underprint in red and black. At centre, a large intaglio numeral '250' in ornate Gothic type is flanked by two rosette guilloche medallions. A block of Dutch anti-counterfeiting text citing the Penal Code for the Colony of Curaçao (Wetb. v. Strafr. voor de Kolonie Curaçao art. 237) appears twice — once in larger type above the numeral and once in smaller type below. |
| Reverse lettering | Het in voorraad hebben of binnen de Kolonie invoeren van valsche Curaçaosche bankbiljetten, met het oogmerk om ze als echt en onvervalcht uit te geven of te doen uitgeven, wordt gestraft met gevangenisstraf van ten hoogste zeven jaren. (Wetb. v. Strafr. voor de Kolonie Curaçao art. 237.) 250 |
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| Comments |
De Curaçaosche Bank was established in 1828 as the sole issuing authority for the Netherlands Antilles, and by 1918 it was operating under considerable strain — wartime disruptions to Atlantic shipping had complicated the supply of currency from the Netherlands, making high-denomination notes like this 250 Gulden both logistically difficult to produce and critically necessary for large commercial transactions in Willemstad's busy harbor economy.
Enschedé in Haarlem had printed for De Curaçaosche Bank since the nineteenth century. The 250 Gulden was the highest denomination the bank issued in this period, and surviving examples are rare — the colonial merchant class that used them tended to redeem rather than hoard.