Description and research notes
This one hundred dollars Cayman Islands Currency Board specimen represents a terminal archival control state within the 1974 series authorized under the Cayman Islands Currency Law of 1974 and printed by Thomas De La Rue and Company Limited. It preserves the fully approved production design of the highest denomination of the series while permanently removing any monetary validity through physical perforated cancellation and documented printer control markings.
The defining invalidation is a large dot-matrix perforation reading “SPECIMEN OF NO VALUE” applied across the face. Unlike overprint-only examples, this perforated format physically interrupts the paper substrate and reflects a final archival control stage within De La Rue’s specimen management system.
The serial configuration follows the all-zero specimen convention with prefix A/1 and number 000000. The printed tracking panel at the lower margin reads “SPECIMEN No. 097,” identifying this piece within the documented specimen accounting sequence for the 1974 one hundred dollars denomination.
The obverse bears the engraved signature of V. G. Johnson as Chairman of the Cayman Islands Currency Board, placing the note within the Johnson administrative phase of the 1974 framework. Queen Elizabeth the Second appears at right in dense intaglio engraving, balanced by the Cayman Islands coat of arms integrated into the central denomination panel. Seahorse motifs and structured denomination cartouches reinforce the maritime identity of the territory while maintaining the formal symmetry characteristic of British Overseas Territory currency issues of the period.
Two printer’s annotations are present and form an integral part of the object’s documentary identity. In the upper right margin the job notation reads “801/A1.” Along the lower margin the handwritten inscription reads “C.T. Wood 12.10.89 see notes on order form 3523.” These markings belong to De La Rue’s internal archival workflow and differentiate this specimen from otherwise comparable perforated examples.
The reverse presents a detailed engraved view of George Town, Capital, organized within a formal ornamental framework. Architectural structures, harbor vessels, shoreline activity, and layered urban depth are rendered in disciplined linework, combining geographic specificity with security-driven engraving density. The denomination panels and ornamental borders frame the vignette with controlled negative space, preserving both clarity and structural balance.
As an archival specimen, this piece functions as controlled reference documentation rather than as currency. It preserves the finalized one hundred dollars design together with the precise invalidation method, specimen number assignment, and internal printer tracking identifiers used to segregate archival impressions from live monetary production within the 1974 Cayman Islands series.