5 Dollars 1974, Cayman Islands
| in Krause book | Number: 6a |
| Years of issue: | 1974 |
| Edition: | 500 000 |
| Signatures: | Chairman: Sir Vassel Godfrey Johnson (1971 - 1982) |
| Serie: | 1974 Currency Law |
| Specimen of: | 1971 |
| Material: | Cotton fiber |
| Size (mm): | 155 х 65 |
| Printer: | TDLR (Thomas de la Rue & Company), London |
* All pictures marked 
are increased partially by magnifying glass, the remaining open in full size by clicking on the image.
** The word "Specimen" is present only on some of electronic pictures, in accordance with banknote images publication rules of appropriate banks.
Description
Watermark:
The green sea turtle (Chelonia mydas), also known as the green turtle, black (sea) turtle, or Pacific green turtle, is a large sea turtle of the family Cheloniidae. It is the only species in the genus Chelonia. Its range extends throughout tropical and subtropical seas around the world, with two distinct populations in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. The common name comes from the usually green fat found beneath its carapace.
Avers:
HM The Queen Elizabeth II.
This portrait of Her Majesty is adapted from a photograph, taken prior to a Royal Tour of India and Pakistan by Anthony Buckley in October 1960, and it is one of the more widely used images of The Queen.(Peter Symes)
I found this image here "National Portrait Gallery". The portrait on banknote is, probably, taken from this photo session.
Her Majesty is shown wearing Queen Alexandra's Kokoshnik Tiara, the King George VI Festoon Necklace, and Queen Mary's Floret Earrings.
The Kokoshnik Tiara, which is sometimes known as the Russian Fringe Tiara, was designed in the style of a Russian peasant girl's headdress. The design of the Kokoshnik tiara was based on a similar tiara, owned by Queen Alexandra's sister, The Empress of Russia. Created by "Garrard", the tiara has sixty-one platinum bars set with 488 diamonds. The tiara was presented to Queen Alexandra, while still a princess, on the occasion of her silver wedding anniversary. It was a gift from three hundred and sixty-five peeresses of the realm. The Festoon Necklace was created from one hundred and five diamonds, at the request of King George VI, from diamonds he inherited on becoming King.
In 1950, King George VI had a diamond necklace created for his daughter Princess Elizabeth using 105 loose collets that were among the Crown heirlooms he inherited. (These, according to Hugh Roberts, had been used by Queen Mary to change the lengths of her multiple diamond collet necklaces, hence their loose status in the collection.) The end result is this take on a triple strand necklace: three strands of graduated collets suspended between two diamond triangles, with a single collet strand at the back. This is also called simply the Queen’s Festoon Necklace, though I’ll use George VI’s name to be a little more specific.
Even though her collection of diamond necklaces has vastly increased since 1950, this is still a favorite with the Queen and she wears it on a fairly regular basis."From her Majesty's Jewel vault".
These diamond and platinum earrings are another example of the multiple changes Queen Mary made to her jewels. The large central stones are the Mackinnon diamonds, a pair of solitaire earrings that were a wedding gift from Sir William Mackinnon to Mary for her wedding in 1893.
The stones were then set as the center of another pair, Queen Mary's Cluster Earrings. Later on, they were replaced and a new setting was created by Garrard, Queen Mary's Floret Earrings. In their new setting, each one is surrounded by seven slightly smaller diamonds. The earrings were inherited by the Queen on Queen Mary's death in 1953. She wears them for occasions like the State Opening of Parliament, the Garter Day ceremony, and other formal events. "From her Majesty's Jewel vault"
The Coat of arms of Cayman islands is on top.
The Cayman Islands’ coat of arms consists of a shield, a crested helm and the motto. Three green stars, representing each of the three inhabited Islands (Grand Cayman, Little Cayman and Cayman Brac), are set in the lower two-thirds of the shield. The stars rest on blue and white wavy bands representing the sea. In the top third of the shield, against a red background, is a gold lion passant guardant (walking with the further forepaw raised and the body seen from the side), representing Britain. Above the shield is a green turtle on a coil of rope. Behind the turtle is a gold pineapple.
The turtle represents the Caymans seafaring history,
the rope, its traditional thatch-rope industry,
and the pineapple, its ties with Jamaica.
The islands’ motto, “He hath founded it upon the seas”, is printed at the bottom of the shield. This line, a verse from Psalm 24 Verse 2, acknowledges the Caymans’ Christian heritage, as well as its ties to the sea.
The proposal for a coat of arms was approved by the Legislative Assembly in 1957, and public input was sought on its design. The Royal Warrant assigning “Armorial Ensigns for the Cayman Islands” was approved by Her Majesty’s command on 14 May 1958.
Denominations are in all corners in numerals. In the middle in words.
Nearby denomination, in the middle, is a treasure chest.
Revers:
Beach in the Cayman Islands.
The view at George Town.
George Town is a city situated on Grand Cayman island of the Cayman Islands. It serves as the capital of the Cayman Islands, in the British West Indies.
George Town is the heart of the Cayman Islands financial services industry (there are close to 600 Bank and Trust companies in the Cayman Islands). The Cayman government offices are located in the city.
Across all field of banknote, also centered, is The "Cayman Turtler" schooner.
On banknote is the collective image of this type of schooner.
Until the 1900s, the small craft used were dugout canoes, but in 1904, Captain Daniel Jervis on Cayman Brac designed and built the first catboat, a small, highly maneuverable double-ended boat, that proved ideal for catching turtles. Thereafter, it became the ubiquitous mode of transport in the days before good roads and motor vehicles, transporting goods and people from place to place along the coastlines.
That boat was first Cayman Turtler!
Cayman Islands were discovered by Columbus in 1503, during his last expedition to the West Indies. In those days, on the uninhabited island, a favorite refuge of local pirates, occasionally frequented by Caribbean Indians. At the beginning of the island because of the abundance of turtles in coastal waters are called tortoiseshell, and in 1530 was renamed in Cayman (from the Spanish word caiman - an alligator).
In 1670 the islands became part of the British Empire. The first inhabitants, immigrants from Jamaica, mainly hunted catching turtles. In this they succeeded, almost completely destroying them. Subsequently, the islanders became famous as a skilful shipbuilders.
On Grand Cayman today has a one of a kind Turtle Farm. The institution is under the control of the state and is primarily intended to increase the populations of sea turtles, and for the maintenance of the farm there is a Turtle commercial program - the export of meat and shells of green turtles, and tourists bring a very considerable profit.
Here is what wrote the English biologist, scientist and writer Archie Carr in his book "The Windward Road" in the late 1950s:
"One after another, destroyed the famous turtle breeding grounds. First they disappeared in Bermuda and then on the banks of the Greater Antilles. Soon came to naught and the Bahamas then fishing vessels began to cross the Gulf Stream and ravage the coast of Florida, where in previous years tag for the turtles were a common sight than chicken coops If industrialist Charles Peak in 1886 caught near Sebastian's two thousand five hundred green turtles, the 1895 he was able to get only sixty. And this is where huge herds before green turtles graze impact les broad mouths of the rivers and the eastern coast of the northern part of the peninsula shoals and large herd annually come to breed in the Dry Tortugas.
Only one breeding area found himself in the side, and its dimensions were amazing all the people who have visited there. It was the Cayman Islands. Accumulation of breeding turtles here was so great that supports large turtle fishery America.
The history of this fishing area, its rise and fall, predatory destruction of the female turtle in seasons egg laying, the plight of people who had no other livelihood but persistent and widespread destruction of declining turtle stud, all this is very significant for the human relationship with the environment and its impact on the depletion of natural resources.
Bernard Lewis told us the sad story about the depletion of the area and the penetration of CI manufacturers in other people's gardens. First, fishing vessels hunted just south of Cuba, but soon the herd of turtles have been wiped out, and the industrialists had to find new places. They built larger ships and began to explore for new places of fishing. Soon they discovered huge turtle grazing in the shallows at the Mosquito coast of Nicaragua, about three hundred and fifty miles from the island of Grand Cayman. There were many islands, on which there was fresh water, the sea is shallow with plenty of bars and rocks, and stretched for miles Thalassia testudinum, and the local herd of turtles like the ones that met CI grandfathers captains. It happened a little more than a hundred years ago. and still Cayman industrialists are major exporters of green turtles and shoals Mosquito - most important place of fishing of turtles that come to the US market. The need for fast and more sophisticated fishing vessels has generated great carpenters, shipbuilders, and a shortage of people who know how to manage Su llamas and contributed to the fact that Caymanians become excellent sailors. However, the fishing fleet that once numbered thirty perfectly built schooners now no more than five or six.
In ancient times, the Cayman Islands, settled people, whose whole life depended on the presence of green turtles, and because the animals were in the shallows of the Mosquito if cornered. I do not want to prove that the people of the Cayman Islands will be the ones who cause the green turtle and the last fatal blow. These people, and all the other hunters hunted turtles on pastures, a strike that animals can endure. Turtles are able to withstand the more powerful blows - they are very hardy animals".
Denominations in numerals are in top right and left corners. Lower, centered, in words.
Comments:
The signature on banknote belongs to:
Sir Vassel Godfrey Johnson.
Sir Vassel Johnson, born in Jamaica of Indian parents, arrived in the Cayman Islands (through Cuba) as a child, and rose to become Financial Secretary, making his adopted country a world financial center. He was often in opposition to international commercial and government organizations because of its ambitious and innovative schemes. He followed up his financial success with a 4-year spell in politics, as the Islands' Minister for Development and Natural Resources. That Cayman is today a stable, attractive and fantastically successful offshore financial center - and a popular tourist destination - is largely because of Sir Vassel's vision and his long years of hard work.
In 1994 Sir Vassel was knighted by Her Majesty the Queen in front of the Legislative Assembly. He was the first, and to this day remains the only, Caymanian to receive this great honour.
Sir Vassel has received many honours for his endeavours, culminating in his knighthood; but this "gentle statesman" merely says, "I was grateful because my adopted home has been good to me. At the same time I trust that I have been good for it." The proof is all around him.
The Cayman Islands dollar was introduced in 1972, replacing the Jamaican dollar at par. Jamaican currency and Cayman Islands then remained both legal tender until 1 August 1972, when Jamaican currency ceased to be legal tender. The Cayman Islands dollar has been pegged to the United States dollar at 1 Cayman Islands dollar = 1.2 U.S. dollars since 1 April 1974.
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