British West Indies dollar
| Demographics | |
|---|---|
| User(s) |  West Indies Federation British Guiana |
| This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete. | |
The British West Indies dollar (BWI$) was the currency of
History
Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 introduced the pound sterling currency system to the British West Indies; however it failed to displace the existing Spanish dollar currency system right up until the late 1870s. In 1822, the British government coined 1⁄4, 1⁄8, and 1⁄16 fractional 'Anchor dollars' for use in Mauritius and the British West Indies (but not Jamaica). A few years later copper fractional dollars were coined for Mauritius, Sierra Leone, and the British West Indies.
The next move to introduce British
A second imperial order-in-council was passed in 1838 with the correct rating of $1 = 4 shillings 2 pence. In the years following the 1838 order-in-council, the
In 1946, a West Indian Currency Conference saw Barbados, British Guiana, the Leeward Islands, Trinidad and Tobago and the Windward Islands agree to establish a unified decimal currency system based on a West Indian dollar to replace the current arrangement of having three different Boards of Commissioners of Currency (for Barbados (which also served the Leeward and Windward Islands), British Guiana and Trinidad & Tobago).[2]
In 1949, the British government formalized the dollar system of accounts in
Until 1955, the BWI$ existed only as banknotes in conjunction with sterling fractional coinage. Decimal coins replaced the sterling coins in 1955. These decimal coins were denominated in cents, with each cent being worth one halfpenny in sterling.
In 1958, the West Indies Federation was established and the BWI$ was its currency. However, although Jamaica (including the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands) was part of the West Indies Federation, it retained the Jamaican pound, despite adopting the BWI$ as legal tender from 1954.[1] Jamaica, the Cayman Islands, and the Turks and Caicos Islands were already long established users of the sterling accounts system of pounds, shillings, and pence.
In 1964 Jamaica ended the legal tender status of the BWI$[1] and Trinidad and Tobago withdrew from the currency union (adopting the Trinidad and Tobago dollar) forcing the movement of the headquarters of the BCCB from Trinidad to Barbados[2] and soon the "BWI$" dollar lost its regional support.
In 1965, the British West Indies dollar of the now defunct
Between 1965 and 1983, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority issued the EC$, with banknotes from 1965 and coins from 1981. The EC$ is now issued by the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank, based in the city of Basseterre, in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The bank was established by an agreement (the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement) signed at Port of Spain on July 5, 1983.
The exchange rate of $4.80 = £1 sterling (equivalent to the old $1 = 4s 2d) continued right into up until 1976 for the new Eastern Caribbean dollar.
For a wider outline of the history of currency in the region see Currencies of the British West Indies.
Coins
Coins were introduced in 1955 in denominations of 1⁄2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents, minted under the name of "British Caribbean Territories, Eastern Group". The 1⁄2, 1, and 2 cent coins were bronze and of the same weight and diameter as British
Banknotes
The first banknotes in the
There were also government issues for Barbados and British Guiana.
In 1950, the first issues made for all the participating colonies, in the name of the "British Caribbean Territories, Eastern Group". These were in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 100 dollars. These notes replaced all earlier issues in 1951. The 1950-1951 issues bore the portrait of King George VI, with those between 1953 and 1964 bearing that of Queen Elizabeth II.
In March 1965, the East Caribbean Currency Authority (ECCA) was founded following the withdrawal from the British Caribbean Currency Board of British Guiana and Trinidad and Tobago to establish their respective central banks.[5]
See also
Footnotes
- ^ a b c Alternative Monetary Regimes for Jamaica by Steve H. Hanke and Kurt Schuler, pp. 19 and 43-44 Archived 2012-04-25 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ a b c d e Van Beek, Fritz (2000). "The Financial System". The Eastern Caribbean Currency Union: Institutions, Performance, and Policy Issues. International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
- ^ a b Favaro, Edgardo (2008). "Banking Supervision in OECS Countries". Small States, Smart Solutions: Improving Connectivity and Increasing the Effectiveness of Public Services. World Bank Publications. Retrieved 2013-02-26.
- ^ "British Virgin Islands". CIA World Factbook. 19 October 2021.
- ^ Linzmayer, Owen (2011). "British Caribbean Territories". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com. Retrieved 2011-08-21.
References
- Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). ISBN 0873411501.
- Pick, Albert (1994). ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
- Pick, Albert (1990). ISBN 0-87341-149-8.
- Ryan, Michael H. (2019). "Canadian Banknotes for the British West Indies, 1900-1950", International Bank Note Society Journal, vol. 58, no. 1, pp. 22–35. Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3700505 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3700505