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20 Dollars Colonial Bank
| Issuer | Colonial Bank |
|---|---|
| Year | 1903 |
| Type | Log in to see details |
| Value | Log in to see details |
| Currency | Log in to see details |
| Composition | Paper |
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| Engraver(s) | Log in to see details |
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| Obverse description | Log in to see details |
|---|---|
| Obverse lettering | COLONIAL BANK We Promise to pay the Bearer on Demand the Sum of TWENTY DOLLARS PORT OF SPAIN By order of the Court of Directors of the Colonial Bank TWENTY DOLLARS TRINIDAD SPECIMEN MANAGER ACCOUNT |
| Reverse description | Printed entirely in blue, the reverse is composed of an elaborate intaglio guilloche design centred on a large horizontal oval medallion bearing the inscription COLONIAL BANK in bold serif lettering, flanked on each side by smaller circular rosette medallions. Above and below the central oval, ornate foliate scrollwork frames two further oval guilloche panels each containing the numeral 20. The printer's imprint of Perkins Bacon & Co., London appears at the foot of the design. Cancellation punch holes are present at the lower portion of the note. |
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| Comments |
The Colonial Bank operated across the British West Indies and British Guiana from its 1836 founding until Barclays absorbed it in 1926. By 1903 it was a mature institution, and this denomination would have seen real commercial use in port towns handling sugar and rum exports — the economic backbone of every territory the bank served.
Perkins, Bacon & Co. had an almost unassailable grip on colonial currency printing throughout the nineteenth century, their steel engraving work favored precisely because it was difficult to counterfeit in territories with limited detection infrastructure. The "S" suffix on the Pick reference indicates this is a specimen, almost certainly retained in Perkins, Bacon's own archive rather than issued through normal banking channels.