Catalog
4 Shillings - George V
| Issuer | Bahamas Government |
|---|---|
| Year | 1930 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Pound (Before 1966) |
| 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 | Green intaglio print on a pink underprint with black serial numbers. At right, a left-facing portrait vignette of King George V anchors the composition, while the Bahamian colonial seal — bearing a sailing ship and the motto EXPULSIS PIRATIS RESTITUTA COMMERCIA — occupies the left; a central vignette of palm trees with a sailing vessel bridges the two. The entire design is enclosed within an intricate guilloche border with ornate corner medallions. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in green, the reverse centres on a large vignette of the British Royal coat of arms set within an ornate circular guilloche frame, flanked by two pastoral scenes — a harvesting scene at left and a tropical field landscape at right. The denomination "4/-" appears in elaborate guilloche cartouches at all four corners, with "THE BAHAMAS GOVERNMENT" inscribed in a bold banner along the lower margin. |
| 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 |
The Bahamas Government's pre-decimal currency included a 4 Shilling denomination that had no equivalent anywhere in the British Empire — it existed solely to represent one-fifth of a Bahamian pound, a local accounting convenience rather than any imperial standard. Waterlow & Sons printed the series for several colonial territories during this period, and the Bahamas issues are among the rarer commissions, reflecting the colony's small population and limited note demand.
Pick 5 is genuinely scarce. Surviving examples in any grade are infrequently offered.