The pound was the currency of the

Bahamas The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an archipelagic and island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the Atlantic Ocean. It contains 97 per cent of the archipelago's land area and 88 per cent of its population. ...

until 1966, issued by the Board of Commissioners of Currency. It was equivalent to the

pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

and was divided into 20 ''

shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence ...

'', each of 12 ''

pence A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is t ...

''. Standard sterling coinage circulated. Apart from a Bahamas penny coin struck in 1806, there were no special coin issues such as were found in Jamaica.

History

In 1825, an imperial

Order-in-Council An Order in Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom, this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council ('' ...

was passed for the purposes of introducing sterling coinage into all the British colonies. It wasn't immediately very effective due to unrealistic ratings, and it required a further Order-in-Council to be passed in 1838. By the middle of the nineteenth century, Sterling coinage had replaced the

Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It w ...

throughout all of the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were the territories in the West Indies under British Empire, British rule, including Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Bermuda, Antigua and Barb ...

. But it was only in the Bahamas,

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

, and

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

that the pound unit of account was used. In the Eastern Caribbean territories and in

British Guiana British Guiana was a British colony, part of the mainland British West Indies. It was located on the northern coast of South America. Since 1966 it has been known as the independent nation of Guyana. The first known Europeans to encounter Guia ...

, the dollar unit of account was retained in conjunction with the British coinage at a fixed rate of one dollar to four shillings and two pence. Unlike in Bermuda, the

US dollar The United States dollar (symbol: $; currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introduced the U.S. dollar at par with the Spanish silver dollar, divided it int ...

circulated freely alongside sterling coinage in the Bahamas. The pound was replaced by the

dollar Dollar is the name of more than 25 currencies. The United States dollar, named after the international currency known as the Spanish dollar, was established in 1792 and is the first so named that still survives. Others include the Australian d ...

in 1966, at a rate of 7/– = $1 (£1 = $2.86). This rate meant that the new Bahamas dollar was at a slight discount to the US dollar. For a wider outline of the history of currency in the region, see currencies of the British West Indies.

Coins

The only coin issued was a 1 penny coin struck in 1806. British coins circulated on the islands until 1966.

Banknotes

The Bank of Nassau initially issued notes in denominations of 5/–, 10/–, and £1. 4/– notes were introduced in 1906. The bank failed in 1917, and the Bahamas government took over the issuance of banknotes on the islands. The Public Treasury issued £1 notes in 1868, followed by government notes in 1869 for £1 and £5. In 1919, a new series of 4/–, 10/–, and £1 notes was introduced, with £5 notes reintroduced after 1936.

References

External links

{{Pound (currency) Currencies of the Bahamas Currencies of the British Empire Economy of the Bahamas Modern obsolete currencies 1966 disestablishments Pound (currency)