Catalog
5 Gulden
| Issuer | Bank van Curaçao |
|---|---|
| Year | 1855 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Gulden (1828-date) |
| Composition | Log in to see details |
| Size | Log in to see details |
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| Printer | Log in to see details |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Printed in black on plain paper with an ornate typographical border enclosing the text. The face value of five gulden appears at lower center, with the bearer clause and issuing authority inscribed in Dutch within the central field. The note carries the date 1855 and bears manuscript authorizing signatures, with various signature varieties known. |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | Log in to see details |
| Reverse description | The reverse carries a lengthy handwritten annotation in Dutch ink, applied after withdrawal, recording the formal demonetization of this note type. The text is written in a flowing 19th-century cursive hand across the full face of the note, dated 16 December 1899 at Willemstad, Curaçao, and concluded with the manuscript signature of the Administrator of Finance and Chairman of the Bank. |
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| Signature(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Comments |
The Bank van Curaçao was established in 1828, making it one of the earliest chartered banks in the Dutch Caribbean. By 1855 the island's economy ran largely on trade rather than agriculture, and paper currency circulated alongside Spanish-American silver coins that remained deeply embedded in local commerce. A 5 Gulden note from this period would have been a meaningful sum in that environment.
Surviving examples from this early Bank van Curaçao series are extremely rare. The tropical climate of the Dutch Antilles was brutal on paper, and redemption drives after later currency reforms eliminated most of what circulation hadn't already destroyed.