Chairman: Drs. Hugo J. van Reijen
Van Reijen International Agencies Limited has over two thirds of a century experience in the marketing of collector’s items. Drs. Hugo J. van Reijen, our Chairman, started dealing in stamps at the age of twelve in Amsterdam, Kingdom of the Netherlands and was operating a thriving wholesale business by sixteen.
Our Purchasing Department
Our Purchasing Department is always in the market to buy any stock of old or new banknotes; upon receipt of your offer we are usually in a position to provide you with our evaluation within twenty-four hours. For large lots our Director can visit you anywhere in the world.
Guernsey
The Bailiwick of Guernsey consists of the Islands of Guernsey, Herm, Sark and Alderney, plus the smaller islands of Lihou, Jethou and Burhou, the second largest of the Channel Islands. It is 30 miles (48 km) west of Normandy, France, and roughly triangular in shape. Guernsey is just 12 miles long with an area of 24.3 sq miles.
Guernsey’s climate is temperate with mild winters and warm, sunny summers. It is classified as an oceanic climate with a dry-summer trend, although marginally wetter than Mediterranean summers. The warmest months are July and August, the coldest month is February. Snow rarely falls and is unlikely to settle, and would most likely fall in February. The temperature rarely drops below freezing, although strong wind-chill from Arctic winds can sometimes make it feel like it. The rainiest months are November through to January and July is on average the sunniest month.
People first arrived on Guernsey in 10,000 BC proof of this is in the tools left behind in the megalithic sites and dolmens. The Romans used Guernsey as a trading link with Iron Age Britain after conquering Gaul in 56 BC. The real history of Guernsey starts when the Normans landed and brought with them their language, laws and institutions. Guernsey only made English its official language in 1926, so many legal documents are in French and many laws and institutions can be dated back to Norman landing, and Guernsey Patois can still be heard spoken.