Catalog
5 Dollars Barclay's Bank
| Issuer | Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1937 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | 5 Dollars |
| 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 | Blue intaglio printing over a green and purple guilloche underprint, with the branch overprint 'ISSUED AT ST. LUCIA BRANCH' applied diagonally in red to both the left and right margins. A capital letter 'L' is positioned in the upper left field, while a supported royal arms vignette occupies the centre of the note. The standard Barclays colonial note design is shared across branch issues, with branch designation as the principal distinguishing feature. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | BARCLAYS BANK (DOMINION, COLONIAL AND OVERSEAS) FORMERLY THE COLONIAL BANK PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND AT ITS OFFICE HERE IN LOCAL CURRENCY ISSUED AT ST. LUCIA BRANCH |
| Reverse description | Log in to see details |
| 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 |
Barclays Bank (Dominion, Colonial and Overseas) — the DCO branding adopted in 1925 after the merger of Colonial Bank, Anglo-Egyptian Bank, and National Bank of South Africa — issued this note under a private banking authority rather than a colonial government mandate. That distinction mattered: DCO notes circulated on the bank's own credit, backed by its London reserves, in territories where no central bank yet existed.
Bradbury Wilkinson printed the DCO series from their New Malden works through the late interwar period. By 1937, political pressure to replace private bank currency with state-controlled issue was already building across British colonial territories — within two decades, most of the markets this note served would have their own currency boards.