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5 Dollars Government Issue
| Issuer | Government of British Guiana |
|---|---|
| Year | 1938-1942 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Grey intaglio print on yellow guilloche underprint, with black serial numbers, date, and signatures. A waterfall vignette occupies the centre, with a toucan to the left and a ship seal to the right. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in grey, the reverse is dominated by a central oval intaglio portrait of King George VI in military uniform, set within an elaborate scrollwork and guilloche border. Large numeral '5' denominators appear in ornate cartouches to the left and right of the central vignette. The printer's imprint appears below the portrait. |
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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.