Jersey Banknotes 20 Pounds banknote 2010 Queen Elizabeth II
TWENTY POUND - VINGT LIVRES - VÎNGT LOUIS
Obverse: A mature portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II adapted from an official portrait taken at Sandringham House. The Queen is wearing The Grand Duchess Vladimir of Russia's Tiara. This tiara was inherited by the Grand Duchess's daughter, the Grand Duchess Helen who subsequently married Prince Nicholas of Greece. Queen Mary bought the tiara from Princess Nicholas in 1921. The tiara has fifteen pearl drops but Princess Mary had fifteen emeralds mounted in such a way that they are interchangeable with the pearls. In this illustration, Her Majesty is wearing the tiara with the pearl drops.
The Cool Violet £20 note depicts the Island’s parliament building - the States - with the exterior view on the front and and its interior States Chambers on the reverse. La Rocco Tower at St Ouen’s Bay (originally known as Gordon’s Tower) is also featured on the reverse.
Watermark: Jersey cow, ‘20’ which appears as a highlight against the watermark.
See-Through Feature: map of Jersey.
Jersey Banknotes - Jersey paper money
2010
The designs for Jersey’s new set of bank notes highlight some of the best known examples of the island’s architecture, history and culture. The front of the notes features the traditional hand engraved intaglio portrait of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, based on a photographic portrait by Mark Lawrence, with the words States of Jersey and the crest beneath. The central vignettes on both the front and reverse feature important Jersey landmarks.The reverse of each note carries the denominational value in numbers, in French and in Jersey’s language, Jèrrias, as well as the words États de Jersey and the twelve parish crests. The notes also feature hand engraved images of various Jersey Round Towers: these defensive towers were built around the coast between 1780 and 1800 to protect the island from invasion. Once protecting the shores of the island from attack in the Napoleonic wars, these towers are now monuments to a time gone by and are among the first landmarks encountered by visitors to the island.
The States Building is home to the Assembly of the States of Jersey, which is one of the oldest legislatures of the English speaking world.
In 933 Jersey, with the other Channel Islands, was annexed by William Longsword, Duke of Normandy. In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold at the Battle of Hastings and was crowned King of England.
From 1066 to 1204, England, Normandy and the Channel Islands were united under one rule - that of the King of England, who was also Duke of Normandy. But in 1204 King John lost Normandy to the King of France and decreed that the Channel Islands should continue to be governed by the laws they were used to. So a separate legal system came into existence for Jersey and the other islands, which continues to this day.
Although the States Assembly - the Island parliament - has met on this site since the fifteenth century it had no chamber of its own until the late eighteenth century. The present States Chamber was built on the eastern side of the Royal Court building and was opened on 21 June 1887 on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the accession of Queen Victoria.
The first election by secret ballot was held on 1 December 1891.
La Rocco Tower (Gordon’s Tower) was built between 1796 and 1801 on a tidal islet half a mile offshore in St Ouen’s Bay. It cost about £400 to build and was named in honour of Lt Gen Gordon, Jersey’s Lieutenant Governor. It was the last, and largest, of the Jersey round towers. The circular walls are steeply battered, but after 10 feet they rise vertically.
It has a surrounding battery, which helps give it a distinctive silhouette. It was extensively damaged by German artillery during the Occupation, when it was used for target practice. Two more decades of deterioration followed before it was restored in the 1970s, when it was feared that erosion of the foundations would cause it to collapse into the sea.