Catalog
See full images - free registration
Continue with Google - no registration!
or register with email
Why register? Just to keep bots out of our catalog. Your email stays private - we will never share it or send you anything uninvited. We guarantee you that!
30 Dollars Elusive bird of the tropics
| Issuer | Government of Antigua & Barbuda |
|---|---|
| Year | 1981 |
| Type | Souvenir banknote |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
| Shape | Log in to see details |
| Printer | Log in to see details |
| Designer(s) | Log in to see details |
| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
| In circulation to | Log in to see details |
| Reference(s) | Log in to see details |
| Obverse description | Gold foil note issued to commemorate Antiguan independence in November 1981, with the central vignette rendered in embossed relief showing a panoramic coastal landscape with rolling hills and shoreline. The left border carries an oval medallion with the national arms, while the right border contains a portrait medallion of Queen Elizabeth II; the denomination numeral 30 appears in ornate roundels at all four corners. A facsimile signature of the Minister of Finance is positioned in the lower centre, beneath the landscape vignette, with the legend THIRTY DOLLARS in a ruled panel at the foot. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Gold foil reverse executed entirely in embossed relief on a dark background, with the central vignette occupying most of the face and portraying two Mangrove Cuckoos amid mangrove vegetation — one bird perched on a branch with wings spread and a second bird below with beak open, set against a background of stylised tropical foliage. The denomination numeral 30 appears in ornate roundels at each corner, flanked by laurel-wreath borders, with decorative guilloche scrollwork filling the lower margin on either side of the THIRTY DOLLARS panel. |
| Reverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
| Protection type | Log in to see details |
| Protection description | Log in to see details |
| Variants | Log in to see details |
| Comments |
Antigua & Barbuda gained independence on 1 November 1981, and this gold foil issue was produced as a commemorative rather than a circulating note — never intended to pass through any till. The "Elusive bird of the tropics" designation points to the Magnificent Frigatebird, Antigua's national bird, a species notorious among naturalists for its kleptoparasitic habits and near-inability to land on water despite being a seabird.
Gold foil notes of this period were a niche product aimed squarely at the souvenir and collector market, with no Pick number assigned and no redemption infrastructure behind them. Condition is almost entirely dependent on storage — the foil creases permanently and irreversibly.