British West Indies dollar

Demographics
User(s)	West Indies Federation  British Guiana
This infobox shows the latest status before this currency was rendered obsolete.

TheBritish West Indies dollar (BWI$) was the currency ofBritish Guiana and theEastern Caribbean territories of theBritish West Indies from 1949 to 1965, when it was largely replaced by theEast Caribbean dollar, and was one of the currencies used inJamaica from 1954 to 1964.^[1] The monetary policy of the currency was overseen by theBritish Caribbean Currency Board (BCCB). It was the official currency used by theWest Indies Federation. TheBritish West Indies dollar was never used inBritish Honduras, theCayman Islands, theTurks and Caicos Islands, theBahamas, orBermuda.

Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 introduced thepound sterling currency system to theBritish West Indies; however it failed to displace the existingSpanish dollar currency system right up until the late 1870s. In 1822, the British government coined1⁄4,1⁄8, and1⁄16 fractional 'Anchor dollars' for use inMauritius and theBritish West Indies (but notJamaica). A few years later copper fractional dollars were coined forMauritius,Sierra Leone, and theBritish West Indies.

The next move to introduce Britishsterling silver coinage to the colonies came with an imperial order-in-council dated 1825. This move was inspired by a number of factors. TheUnited Kingdom was now operating a very successful gold standard in relation to thegold sovereign that was introduced in 1816, and there was a desire to extend this system to the colonies. In addition to this, there was that the supply ofSpanish dollars (pieces of eight) had been cut off as a result of the revolutions in Latin America where most of theSpanish dollars were minted. The lastSpanish Dollar was in fact minted atPotosi in 1825. There was now a growing desire to have a stable and steady supply of British shillings everywhere where the British drum was beating. The 1825 order-in-council was largely a failure because it made sterling silver coinage legal tender at the unrealistic rating in relation to theSpanish dollar of$1 = 4 shillings and 4 pence. It did succeed inJamaica,Bermuda, andBritish Honduras because the authorities in those territories set aside the official ratings and used the more realistic rating of$1 = 4 shillings. The reality of the rating between the dollar and the pound was based on the silver content of the Spanishpieces of eight as compared to the gold content of the Britishgold sovereign.

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, theBritish West Indies territories began to enact local legislation for the purposes of assimilating their monies of account with the British pound sterling. Gold discoveries in Australia in 1851 drove the silver dollar out of the West Indies, but it returned again with the great depreciation in the value of silver that followed with Germany's transition to thegold standard between 1871 and 1873. In the years immediately following 1873, there was a fear that theBritish West Indies might return to a silver standard. As such, legislation was passed in the individual territories to demonetize the silver dollars. Even though the British coinage was also silver, it represented fractions of thegold sovereign and so its value was based on a gold standard. During this period, and into the nineteenth century, accounts could be kept in either dollars or sterling.Jamaica,Bermuda, and theBahamas preferred to use sterling accounts whereasBritish Guiana used dollar accounts.British Guiana used dollar accounts for the purpose of assisting in the transition from the Dutchguilder system of currency to the British pound sterling system. In theEastern Caribbean territories the private sector preferred to use dollar accounts whereas the government preferred to use sterling accounts. In some of theEastern Caribbean territories, notes were issued by various private banks, denominated in dollars equivalent to 4shillings 2pence. SeeAntigua dollar,Barbadian dollar,Dominican dollar,Grenadan dollar,Guyanese dollar,Saint Kitts dollar,Saint Lucia dollar,Saint Vincent dollar andTrinidad and Tobago dollar.

In 1946, a West Indian Currency Conference sawBarbados,British Guiana, theLeeward Islands,Trinidad and Tobago and theWindward 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 inBritish Guiana and the Eastern Caribbean territories by introducing theBritish West Indies dollar (BWI$) at the already existing conversion rate of$4.80 per pound sterling (or$1 = 4 shillings 2 pence). It was one of the many experimental political and economic ventures tested by theBritish government to form a uniform system within theirBritish West Indies territories. The currency was known verbally as the "Beewee" (slang for British West Indies) dollar. In 1950, the British Caribbean Currency Board (BCCB) was set up in Trinidad^[3] with the sole right to issue notes and coins of the new unified currency and given the mandate of keeping full foreign exchange cover to ensure convertibility at$4.80 per pound sterling.^[2] In 1951, theBritish Virgin Islands joined the arrangement, but this led to discontent because that territory was more naturally drawn to the currency of the neighbouringUS Virgin Islands. In 1959, theBritish Virgin Islands withdrew from the arrangement and adopted theUS dollar.^[4]

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, theWest Indies Federation was established and the BWI$ was its currency. However, althoughJamaica (including theCayman Islands and theTurks and Caicos Islands) was part of the West Indies Federation, it retained theJamaican pound, despite adopting the BWI$ as legal tender from 1954.^[1]Jamaica, theCayman Islands, and theTurks 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$^[1] andTrinidad and Tobago withdrew from the currency union (adopting theTrinidad and Tobago dollar) forcing the movement of the headquarters of the BCCB from Trinidad to Barbados^[2] and soon the "BWI$" dollar lost its regional support.

In 1965, the British West Indies dollar of the now defunctWest Indies Federation was replaced at par by theEast Caribbean dollar and the BCCB was replaced by theEastern Caribbean Currency Authority or ECCA^[3] (established by the Eastern Caribbean Currency Agreement 1965).British Guiana withdrew from the currency union the following year.Grenada rejoined the common currency arrangement in 1968 having utilized the Trinidad and Tobago dollar from 1964.^[2] Barbados withdrew from the currency union in 1972, following which the ECCA headquarters were moved to St. Kitts.^[2]

Between 1965 and 1983, the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority issued theEC$, with banknotes from 1965 and coins from 1981. The EC$ is now issued by theEastern Caribbean Central Bank, based in the city ofBasseterre, in Saint Kitts and Nevis. The bank was established by an agreement (the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Agreement) signed atPort of Spain on 5 July 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 seeCurrencies of the British West Indies.

Coins were introduced in 1955 in denominations of1⁄2, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents, minted under the name of"British Caribbean Territories, Eastern Group". The1⁄2, 1, and 2 cent coins were bronze and of the same weight and diameter as Britishfarthing,halfpenny, andone penny coins. The 5 cents coin was brass while the 10, 25, and 50 cents were cupro-nickel. These coins remained in circulation until 1981, with the exception of the1⁄2 cent, which was withdrawn in 1965. All coins bore the image of Queen Elizabeth II on theobverse.

The first banknotes in theBritish West Indies were issued by private banks, including the Colonial Bank,Barclays Bank (which took over the Colonial Bank) and theRoyal Bank of Canada. Issues were made atAntigua,Barbados,British Guiana,Dominica,Grenada,St. Kitts,St. Lucia,St. Vincent, andTrinidad and Tobago. The main feature of interest about these banknotes was that they displayed the dual accountancy system by stating the amount in both poundssterling and inSpanish dollars at the automatic conversion rate of $1 = 4 shillings and 2 pence sterling.

There were also government issues forBarbados andBritish 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 KingGeorge VI, with those between 1953 and 1964 bearing that of QueenElizabeth II.

The serial number prefixes are located on the front of the note, and those of the King George VI series are fractional while those of the Queen Elizabeth II series are alphanumeric. The backs of all notes of both series are identical except for the color. Depicted are the Coat of Arms of theLeeward Islands and the Colonial Badges ofBritish Guiana,Barbados,Windward Islands, andTrinidad & Tobago.

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]

• Currencies of the British West Indies

• Early history of money in the British West IndiesCentral Bank of Trinidad and Tobago
• Early history of money in the British West Indies,Central Bank of Barbados

• History of the Caribbean
• Modern obsolete currencies
• British West Indies
• 1949 establishments in the British Empire
• Currencies of Trinidad and Tobago
• Currencies of Barbados
• Economy of British Guiana
• Colony of Jamaica
• Dollar

• Webarchive template wayback links
• Use dmy dates from February 2025