British West Indies dollar
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The British West Indies dollar ("BWI$") was the currency of the various British West Indies territories from 1935 and, later, of the unitary West Indies Federation. The monetary policy of the currency was overseen by the British Caribbean Currency Board (BCCB).
[edit] History
The BWI$ was adopted in 1935. It was one of the many experimental political and economic ventures tested by the British government to form a uniform system within their British West Indies territories. The official ISO-4217-Code: of the currency was XBWD. However, it was often written as "BWI$" for short and verbally called the "Beewee" (slang for 'British West Indies') dollar.
The BWI$ was introduced at the rate of $4.80 per Pound sterling or $1 = 4 shillings 2 pence. Until 1955, it existed only as banknotes and without subdivisions. British coins circulated alongside the BWI$. Coins were introduced in 1955, denominated in cents, with each cent was worth one halfpenny in sterling
In 1964 Trinidad and Tobago withdrew from the currency union (adopting the Trinidad and Tobago dollar) and soon the "BWI$" dollar lost its regional support and was replaced in 1965 by the East Caribbean dollar (with Guyana withdrawing from that currency union in 1966 to use the Guyanese dollar).
[edit] Coins
Coins were introduced in 1955 in denominations of ½, 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 cents.
[edit] Banknotes
The first BWI$ banknotes were issued by local banks and only in 1950 were 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 local 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.
