Saint Lucia dollar

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The history of currency in the British colony of Saint Lucia closely follows that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. Even though Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 brought the gold standard to the West Indies, silver pieces of eight (Spanish dollars and later Mexican dollars) continued to form a major portion of the circulating currency right into the latter half of the nineteenth century.

Saint Lucia Country in the Caribbean

Saint Lucia is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. The island was previously called Iyonola, the name given to the island by the native Amerindians and later, Hewanorra, the name given by the native Caribs. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km2 and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. Its capital is Castries.

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Britain adopted the gold standard in 1821 and an imperial order-in-council of 1838 resulted in Saint Lucia formally adopting the British sterling coinage in the year 1851. However, despite the circulation of British coins in St. Lucia, the silver pieces of eight continued to circulate alongside them and the private sector continued to use dollar accounts for reckoning. The international silver crisis of 1873 signalled the end of the silver dollar era in the West Indies and silver dollars were demonetized in St. Lucia in 1882. This left a state of affairs, in which the British coinage circulated, being reckoned in dollar accounts at an automatic conversion rate of 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence.

Pound sterling Official currency of the United Kingdom and other territories

The pound sterling, commonly known as the pound and less commonly referred to as sterling, is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, the British Antarctic Territory, and Tristan da Cunha. It is subdivided into 100 pence. A number of nations that do not use sterling also have currencies called the pound.

Shilling Unit of currency formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, and other British Commonwealth countries, as well as much of the British Empire

The shilling is a unit of currency formerly used in Austria, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, United States and other British Commonwealth countries. Currently the shilling is used as a currency in four east African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Somalia. It is also the proposed currency that the east African community plans to introduce . The word shilling comes from old English "Scilling", a monetary term meaning twentieth of a pound, and from the Proto-Germanic root skiljaną meaning 'to separate, split, divide.' The word "Scilling" is mentioned in the earliest recorded Germanic law codes, those of Æthelberht of Kent.

From 1949, with the introduction of the British West Indies dollar, the currency of St. Lucia became officially tied up with that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. The British sterling coinage was eventually replaced by a new decimal coinage in 1955, with the new cent being equal to one half of the old penny.

The British West Indies dollar (BWI$) was the currency of British Guiana and the Eastern Caribbean territories of the British West Indies from 1949 to 1965, when it was largely replaced by the East Caribbean dollar, and was one of the currencies used in Jamaica from 1954 to 1964. The monetary policy of the currency was overseen by the British Caribbean Currency Board (BCCB). The British West Indies dollar was never used in British Honduras, the Cayman Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, the Bahamas, or Bermuda.

History

From 1851, the British pound circulated on Saint Lucia, replacing the Saint Lucia livre. Sometime after 1882, private banknotes, denominated in dollars, began to be issued on the island. From 1920, some of these notes also bore the value in sterling, with 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence. During this period, no subdivision of the dollar was issued and British coins continued to circulate. The government of Saint Lucia also issued paper money in 1920, denominated in sterling.

The livre was the currency of Saint Lucia until 1814. The Saint Lucia livre was a French colonial currency, distinguished by the use of various cut Spanish and Spanish colonial coins. The livre was subdivided into 20 sous, each of 12 deniers. The escalin was worth 15 sous, with the stampee worth 3 sous 9 denier. Until 1813, 12 escalins were equal to 8 reales, after which 15 escalins equaled 8 reales. In 1851, sterling was introduced for circulation.

Penny unit of currency in various countries

A penny is a coin or a unit of currency in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius, it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. Presently, it is the formal name of the British penny (abbr. p) and the informal name of the American one cent coin (abbr. ¢) as well as the informal Irish designation of the 1 cent euro coin (abbr. c). It is the informal name of the cent unit of account in Canada, although one cent coins are no longer minted there. The name is also used in reference to various historical currencies also derived from the Carolingian system, such as the French denier and the German pfennig. It may also be informally used to refer to any similar smallest-denomination coin, such as the euro cent or Chinese fen.

In 1935, the British West Indies dollar was established, equal in value to the earlier Saint Lucia dollar and other similar issues elsewhere in the British West Indies. The last distinct issues of banknotes were made for Saint Lucia in 1940. Since 1965, the East Caribbean States dollar has circulated.

Banknotes

Three banks, the Royal Bank of Canada, the Colonial Bank and Barclays Bank, all issued 5 dollars notes. The Royal Bank of Canada issued notes in 1920, whilst the Colonial Bank issued notes until 1926 and Barclays Bank (which took over the Colonial Bank) issued notes between 1926 and 1940.

Royal Bank of Canada Financial institution in Canada

The Royal Bank of Canada is a Canadian multinational financial services company and the largest bank in Canada by market capitalization. The bank serves over 16 million clients and has 80,000 employees worldwide. The bank was founded in 1864 in Halifax, Nova Scotia, although its head office is located in Montreal, Quebec, and its corporate headquarters in Toronto, Ontario. RBC's Institution Number is 003. In November 2017, RBC was added to the Financial Stability Board's list of global systemically important banks.

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The history of currency in the British colony of St. Kitts closely follows that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. Even though Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 brought the gold standard to the West Indies, silver pieces of eight continued to form a major portion of the circulating currency right into the latter half of the nineteenth century.

The history of currency in the British colony of Saint Vincent closely follows that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. As such, it should not be considered in isolation. In order to get a broad overview of currency in the region, see the article British West Indies dollar.

Antigua and Barbuda are actually two separate islands which operate as one country. Along with many other countries of the Caribbean, they use the East Caribbean dollar as their official currency, which was first brought into circulation in 1965 to replace the British West Indies dollar.

The region known as the British West Indies included British Guiana on the South American mainland, British Honduras in Central America, Bermuda, The Bahamas, and Jamaica, along with its former dependencies of the Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It also included the Eastern Caribbean territories of Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, the Windward Islands and the Leeward Islands.

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