The 2007 Barbados twenty-dollar note is devoted to Samuel Jackman Prescod, a nineteenth-century politician and one of the country’s National Heroes.

Samuel Jackman Prescod was elected to the House of Assembly for the new constituency of Bridgetown in 1843; a journalist on The Liberal, he always remained in opposition and helped create the Liberal Party. Today he is one of the National Heroes of Barbados.

The 2007 series outwardly continued the 1997–1999 design: the denomination in numerals in all four corners, the portrait of an outstanding Barbadian on the right, and on the back a vignette of the Parliament Buildings and the Careenage harbour in Bridgetown.

The update was about durability and security: the corners were strengthened, the large numeral on the left was printed in higher relief so that blind people could tell denominations apart by touch, and the watermark gained an additional electrotype: the broken trident on the lower denominations and the Pride of Barbados flower on the higher ones. The security thread became windowed, with a wave-like pattern on the lower denominations. In 2013 this series gave way to the first full redesign of Barbadian money.

For a Barbados collection this is a denomination of the last series in the classic design, and for a parliamentary history theme it is a note where the portrait of an 1843 member of the Assembly sits alongside the Parliament Buildings. UNC condition means the note has never circulated: no folds, no wear, no soiling, even corners — just as it left the press.

You can find companions for this banknote, by series or by year of issue, in the VPcoins catalogue.