Essequibo & Demerary 1809 2 guilder
The Essequibo and Demerary were originally two of three Dutch colonies along the coast of present-day Guyana. They were seized by the British to avoid having them fall into French hands after the French invasion of the Netherlands. They remained in British control through the 1830's, at which point the Netherlands and Great Britain formally divided the region between them, the British taking over the western portion. This mixed colonial origin shows in the coinage: Though the portrait of the British monarch is honored on the obverse, the denominations are clearly Dutch.
This coin is a silver two guilder, dated 1809. It was lot 7640 and sold on Jan 8, 2010 at the 2010 N.Y.I.N.C. Auction by Stack's Bowers for $2,200. The catalog description reads: "ESSEQUIBO & DEMERARY. 2 Guilder, 1809. Ex: Remick Collection. VERY RARE in this high grade. Toned. NGC AU-58."
Recorded mintage: 16,000.
Specification: 15.50 g, 0.816 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM 7.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
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