Essequibo & Demerary 1832 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 specimen was lot 44350 in Stack's Bowers ANA sale (Costa Mesa, CA, August 2021), where it sold for $384. The catalog description[1] noted, "ESSEQUIBO & DEMERARY. Guilder, 1832. William IV. NGC Proof. AU Details--Surface Hairlines. A flashy Proof with some patches of light toning and hairlines across both sides." This type was also struck in 1835.
Recorded mintage: 47,000 + proofs.
Specification: 7.77 g, 0.816 fine silver.
Catalog reference: KM-19; Prid-12.
- Michael, Thomas, and Tracy L. Schmidt, Standard Catalog of World Coins, 1801-1900, 9th ed., Iola, WI: Krause Publications, 2019.
- Pridmore, F., The Coins of the British Commonwealth of Nations to the end of the Reign of George VI 1952: Part 3, Bermuda, British Guiana, British Honduras and the British West Indies, London: Spink & Son, 1965.
- [1]Orsini, Matt, Kyle Ponterio and Jeremy Bostwick, The August 2021 ANA sale: World and Ancient Coins, Costa Mesa, CA: Stack's Bowers LLC, 2021.
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