Catalog
5 Dollars Government Issue
| Issuer | Government of British Guiana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938-1942 |
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| Printer | Waterlow & Sons Limited, United Kingdom (1810-1961) |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | THE GOVERNMENT OF BRITISH GUIANA GEORGETOWN. 1st. JANUARY, 1942 PROMISES TO PAY THE BEARER ON DEMAND THE SUM OF FIVE DOLLARS WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, LONDON WALL, LONDON |
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| Reverse lettering | WATERLOW & SONS LIMITED, LONDON 5 5 |
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| Comments |
British Guiana's Government Issue notes of this period were a direct consequence of the colonial administration's reluctance to establish a proper central bank — the Government of British Guiana continued issuing currency under its own authority well into the mid-twentieth century, an arrangement that was increasingly anomalous among British Caribbean territories by the late 1930s.
Waterlow & Sons handled the printing at their London works, as they did for a considerable portion of Britain's colonial paper currency during this period. The series spans a narrow wartime window, and notes dated toward the 1942 end of the range were produced under the disruptions of the London Blitz, which periodically affected Waterlow's operations on Finsbury Square.