2 Dollars Government Issue

British Guiana's government-issued currency series of the late 1920s and 1930s existed because the colonial administration had no central bank — the Treasury itself served as the issuing authority, a relatively uncommon arrangement even by colonial standards. Waterlow & Sons, one of London's premier security printers of the period, handled the production, as they did for a substantial portion of Britain's colonial currency obligations during these decades.

The 1929–1936 date range spans the worst years of the Great Depression, during which sugar — the colony's economic backbone — collapsed in price. Notes from this series that show heavy circulation wear are likely products of those years, when hard currency was hoarded and paper passed hands frequently out of necessity rather than preference.