Jamaican pound
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The pound was the official currency of Jamaica between 1840 and 1969. It circulated as a mixture of British currency and local issues and was always equal to the British pound. The Jamaican pound was also used by the Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands.
The earliest money in Jamaica were Spanish copper coins called maravedíes. In later years, as the island became increasingly important to the British Empire, various other silver coins showed up, including Spanish pesos and reales and British pounds, shillings and pence. The Spanish coins were the most common, in denominations ranging from ½ real (or 1/16 dollar) to 1 dollar (peso). The exchange rate between peso and shilling was set at 1 peso = 4 shillings. In 1834 silver coins of threepence and three ha'penny (1½ pence) were introduced, valued at ½ real and ¼ real. The three ha'penny came to be called "quartile" or "quatties." The quattie in particular was used in church collections due to a feeling by the black population that copper coins were inappropriate for that purpose. Hence, they came to be called "Christian quatties".
In 1839 an act was passed by Parliament declaring that as of December 31, 1840, only British coinage would be legal tender in Jamaica, demonitizing all of the Spanish coins, with the exception of the gold doubloon which was valued at 3/4/- (three pounds four shillings). Coins in use were thus the farthing, ha'penny, penny, penny ha'penny, threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin (2 shillings), half crown (2/6), and crown (5/-).
The emancipation of the slaves in 1838 increased the need for coinage in Jamaica, particularly low denomination coins, but the blacks were still reluctant to use copper. The solution was to use cupronickel, adopted in 1869. Penny and ha'pennies were minted for use in Jamaica, becoming the first truly Jamaican coins. Beginning in 1880, the farthing was also minted in cupronickel.
In 1904, the first government-authorized banknotes were produced in the denomination of 10 shillings. Banknotes of 1 and 5 pounds were also being circulated by chartered banks. In 1918 denominations of 2/6 (two shillings six pence) and 5/- (five shillings) were authorized. The 2/6 note proved to have a short life, being withdrawn in 1922. In 1940, the government bank began producing 1 and 5 pound notes.
In October 1960, the Bank of Jamaica was given the sole right to mint coins and produce banknotes in Jamaica. Their notes were released on May 1, 1961 in the denominations of 5/-, 10/-, £1 and £5.
On January 30, 1968, the Jamaican House of Representatives voted to decimalize the currency, introducing a new dollar worth 10 shillings, and divided into 100 cents (1 cent thus being equal to 1.2 pence). At the time, coins of 1 cent (1.2d), 5 cent (6d), 10 cent (1/-), 20 cent (2/-) and 25 cent (2/6) were produced and banknotes of 50 cent (5/-), $1 (10/-), $2 (£1), and $10 (£5). These coins and banknotes went into circulation on September 8, 1969.
