Barbadian dollar

Barbadian dollar
ISO 4217 code	BBD
Central bank	Central Bank of Barbados
Website	www.centralbank.org.bb
User(s)	Barbados
Inflation	4.2%
Source	Central Bank of Barbados, October 2007.
Pegged with	U.S. dollar = Bds$ 2
Subunit
1/100	cent
Symbol	Bds$
Coins	1, 5, 10, 25 cents, $1
Banknotes	$2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100

The dollar has been the currency of Barbados since 1935. The present dollar has the ISO 4217 code BBD and is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign "$" or, alternatively, "Bds$" to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents. On 22 October 2010 it was reported that the international rating agency Standard & Poor's (S&P) rated the currency of Barbados as "BBB-/A-3".^[1]

History

The history of currency in the British colony of Barbados closely follows that of 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.

Britain adopted the gold standard in 1821 and an imperial order-in-council of 1838 resulted in Barbados formally adopting the British sterling coinage in the year 1848. However, despite the circulation of British coins in Barbados 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 Barbados in 1879. 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. The first currency denominated in dollars to be issued in Barbados was in the form of private banknotes introduced in 1882. No subdivisions of the dollar were issued and these notes circulated alongside sterling, together with 1 pound notes issued by the government in 1917. From 1920, some of the private banknotes also carried a denomination in sterling, with 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence.

From 1949, with the introduction of the British West Indies dollar, the currency of Barbados became officially tied with those of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. Between 1938 and 1949, the Barbados government issued paper money denominated in dollars. The last private bank issues were made in 1949. 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. In 1965, the East Caribbean dollar replaced the British West Indies dollar in Barbados.

The present dollar was created after the establishment of the Central Bank of Barbados (CBB), which was founded by an Act of parliament in May, 1972. The Barbados dollar replaced the East Caribbean dollar at par in 1973. Since 5 July 1975, the Barbados dollar has been pegged to the US dollar at US$1 = Bds$2. Most people in Barbados will accept USD at the fixed rate. Exchanging money at the airport yields however a lower rate (US$1 = Bds$1.98 + a service fee when buying Bds).

For a wider outline of the history of currency in the region, see Currencies of the British West Indies.

Coins

In 1973, the first year of Barbados having its own coinage, coins were introduced in denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, and $1. From 1973 through 1991, the 1¢ was struck in bronze. From 1992, copper-plated zinc has been used. The 5¢ coin is struck in brass, whilst the highest 3 denominations are struck in cupronickel. The $1 coin is a 7-sided equilaterally-curved piece. A flying fish is adorned on one side, with the Barbadian coat of arms on the reverse. The Barbadian dollar coins are now minted in a plated-steel planchet first issued in 2007. Many of the coins in circulation have been struck at the Royal Canadian Mint.

The reverse of the 5 cent coin depicts the South Point Lighthouse, the oldest lighthouse in Barbados.

Banknotes

In 1882, the Colonial Bank introduced notes for 5 dollars. In 1920, 20 and 100 dollar notes were also issued by this bank. In 1922, Barclays Bank, having taken over the Colonial Bank, began issuing 5, 20 and 100 dollar notes. The higher denominations ceased production in 1940 but the 5 dollar continued to be issued until 1949.

The Royal Bank of Canada introduced notes in 1909, in denominations of 5, 20 and 100 dollars. From 1920, these notes also bore the denomination in sterling, with 5 dollars = 1 pound 10 pence, 20 dollars = 4 pounds 3 shillings 4 pence and 100 dollars = 20 pounds 16 shillings 8 pence. Notes were issued until 1938. The Canadian Bank of Commerce issued notes between 1922 and 1940, also in denominations of 5, 20 and 100 dollars.

Between 1938 and 1949, the government issued notes in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 20 and 100 dollars. All bore the portrait of King George VI.

On 3 December 1973,^[2] the Central Bank of Barbados introduced notes in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 dollars. The 1 dollar note was not issued again, with 2 dollar notes introduced in 1980, followed by 50 dollars in 1989. Banknotes currently in circulation are:

2 dollars (blue)
5 dollars (green)
10 dollars (brown)
20 dollars (purple)
50 dollars (orange)
100 dollars (grey)

The defunct 1 dollar note was red in colour and had Samuel Jackman Prescod on the obverse.

On 2 May 2013, the Central Bank of Barbados issued a new series of banknotes with a more modern design. The portraits on all of the denominations have been retained, but on the back of the notes is a design specific to the person depicted on the front of the notes.^[3]^[4]

Current BBD exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From fxtop.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Currency.Wiki:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

References

↑ "Sovereign Rating And Country T&C Assessment Histories" (PDF). Standard & Poor's. Retrieved 2011-10-04.
↑ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Barbados". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.
↑ Barbados new banknote series reported BanknoteNews.com. 2 May 2013. Retrieved on 2013-05-03.
↑ Press release on the issuance of the new series of banknotes by the Central Bank of Barbados Central Bank of Barbados. (www.centralbank.org.bb). Retrieved on 2013-05-03.

External links

Currencies named dollar or similar

Circulating	Australian dollar Bahamian dollar Barbadian dollar Belize dollar Bermudian dollar Brunei dollar Canadian dollar Cayman Islands dollar Cook Islands dollar East Caribbean dollar Fijian dollar Guyanese dollar Hong Kong dollar Jamaican dollar Kiribati dollar Liberian dollar Namibian dollar New Zealand dollar Samoan tālā Singapore dollar Solomon Islands dollar Surinamese dollar New Taiwan dollar Trinidad and Tobago dollar Tuvaluan dollar United States dollar

Circulating, but renamed	Chinese yuan Ethiopian birr Malaysian ringgit

Obsolete	Antigua dollar British Columbia dollar British North Borneo dollar British West Indies dollar Ceylonese rixdollar Confederate States dollar Continental dollar Danish rigsdaler Danish West Indian daler Danish West Indian rigsdaler Dominican dollar Dutch rijksdaalder Greenlandic rigsdaler Grenadan dollar Hawaiian dollar Japanese occupation dollar Kiautschou dollar Malaya and British Borneo dollar Malayan dollar Mauritian dollar Mongolian dollar Nevisian dollar New Brunswick dollar Newfoundland dollar Norwegian rigsdaler Norwegian speciedaler Nova Scotian dollar Penang dollar Prince Edward Island dollar Puerto Rican dollar Rhodesian dollar Saint Kitts dollar Saint Lucia dollar Saint Vincent dollar Sarawak dollar Sierra Leonean dollar Slovenian tolar Spanish dollar Straits dollar Sumatran dollar Swedish riksdaler Old Taiwan dollar Texas dollar Trinidadian dollar Tobagan dollar Zimbabwean dollar

Noncirculating	Marshall Islands dollar Nauru dollar Niue dollar Palau dollar Pitcairn Islands dollar

Conceptual	Eurodollar Petrodollar Geary–Khamis dollar

Virtual	Linden dollar Project Entropia Dollar

Fictional	Angus Bucks

Private	Antarctican dollar Arizona dollar Calgary dollar Canadian Tire money Disney dollar Liberty dollar Salt Spring dollar Toronto dollar

See also	Dollar sign Half dollar Holey dollar Thaler Tolar Trade dollar

Currencies of the Americas

North	Canadian dollar Canada Saint Pierre and Miquelon Danish krone Greenland Euro Clipperton Saint Pierre and Miquelon Mexican peso U.S. dollar

Caribbean	Aruban florin Bahamian dollar Barbadian dollar Bermudian dollar Cayman Islands dollar Cuban peso Cuban convertible peso Dominican peso East Caribbean dollar Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Dominica Grenada Montserrat Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Euro Saint Martin Saint Barthélemy Guadeloupe Martinique Haitian gourde Jamaican dollar Netherlands Antillean guilder Curaçao Sint Maarten Trinidad and Tobago dollar U.S. dollar Puerto Rico U.S. Virgin Islands British Virgin Islands Caribbean Netherlands Turks and Caicos Islands

Central	Belize dollar Costa Rican colón Guatemalan quetzal Honduran lempira Nicaraguan córdoba Panamanian balboa U.S. dollar El Salvador Panama

South	Argentine peso Bolivian boliviano Brazilian real British pound sterling British Antarctic Territory South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands Chilean peso Colombian peso Ecuadorian centavo coins Ecuador Euro French Guiana Falkland Islands pound Guyanese dollar Paraguayan guaraní Peruvian nuevo sol Surinamese dollar Uruguayan peso U.S. dollar Ecuador Venezuelan bolívar

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