Catalog
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| Issuer | States of Guernsey |
|---|---|
| Year | 1916-1918 |
| Type | Standard circulation banknote |
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| Obverse description | Black on red underprint. The four corners each bear the denomination in words ONE, with GUERNSEY printed sideways in both lateral margins and THE STATES OF GUERNSEY running along the top and bottom margins. A vignette of St. Sampson's harbour occupies the upper centre, flanked on left and right by a letter-over-letter prefix and four-digit serial number; a printed date of issue appears at centre-right below the vignette. Two manuscript signatures appear at lower left and lower right, with the denomination in words at bottom left. |
|---|---|
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| Reverse description | Printed in blue by letterpress, the reverse is dominated by an elaborate engine-turned guilloche pattern of interlocking scalloped medallions radiating from a central circular vignette bearing the Guernsey Arms — a shield charged with three golden lions passant — enclosed within a legend reading INSVLA DEGGERNEAE S. BALLIVIE. The printer's imprint of Perkins Bacon & Co. London appears at the foot of the central vignette. |
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| Comments |
The States of Guernsey began issuing their own paper currency during the First World War when the German naval blockade disrupted the normal supply of British notes and coin to the Channel Islands. This note was printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co. — a firm better known for stamp engraving, responsible at the time for postage stamps across much of the British Empire — which partly explains the distinctly philatelic quality of the intaglio work.
The 1916–1918 date span covers the full period of wartime issue, though individual notes were signed and dated by hand at the Greffe, Guernsey's official registry office, rather than at the press.