Official Currencies of the Islands of the Caribbean Plus

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Official Currencies of the Islands of the Caribbean Plus

This topic provides an overview of the currencies of the Caribbean, plus the two other numismatically significant islands in that general area of the world, namely St Pierre and Miquelon, and Bermuda.

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Reference Maps

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Categories

The island territories and island nations of this area can be categorised, in currency terms, as follows:

1] Those that are in a currency union.

2] Those that use the US dollar.

3] Those that use their own national currency.

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Currency Unions

The two currency unions in use in the area are the euro and the East Caribbean dollar. The polities that use the euro do so because they are overseas territories of France. Those that use the East Caribbean dollar have chosen to do so of their own free will.

Polities using the euro


    1] Guadeloupe

    2] Martinique

    3] St Barthélemy

    4] St Martin – the French half of the island. (The other half, 
        Sint Maarten, currently uses the Netherlands Antilles guilder).

    5] St Pierre and Miquelon

Polities using the East Caribbean dollar 


    1] Anguilla

    2] Antigua and Barbuda

    3] Dominica

    4] Grenada     
                                 
    5] Montserrat

    6] St Christopher and Nevis

    7] St Lucia

    8] St Vincent and the Grenadines

All those using the East Caribbean dollar are also members of the Commonwealth.

Dominica is a republic.

Montserrat and Anguilla are British Overseas Territories.

The remainder are Commonwealth Realms with King Charles III as their monarch.

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The US Dollar



Of those polities using the US dollar, two do so because they are Overseas Territories of the USA:

1] Puerto Rico

2] The United States Virgin Islands


Two polities using the US dollar are British Overseas Territories that have chosen to do so of their own free will:

1] The British Virgin Islands

2] The Turks and Caicos Islands


The following three special municipalities of the Netherlands have opted to use the US dollar instead of the euro:

1] Bonaire

2] Saba

3] Sint Eustatius

N.B. These three municipalities were formerly part of the Associated Kingdom of Netherlands Antilles, which used the Netherlands Antilles gulden (or guilder) and was dissolved on 10th October 2010. They chose to become municipalities of the Netherlands in preference to independence.

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National Currencies



Those polities that use their own currency are:

1] Aruba.  One Aruban florin = 100 cents

2] The Bahamas uses the Bahamian dollar.

3] Barbados uses the Barbadian dollar.

4] Bermuda uses the Bermudian dollar.

5] The Cayman Islands use the Caymanian dollar.

6] Cuba.   One peso = 100 centavos.

7] The Dominican Republic.  One Dominican peso = 100 centavos.

8] Haiti.  One Gourde = 100 centimes.

9] Jamaica uses the Jamaican dollar.

10] Trinidad and Tobago.  The Trinidad and Tobago dollar = 100 cents.

11] Curaçao.  One Netherlands Antilles gulden (or guilder) = 100 cents. 

12] Sint Maarten.  One Netherlands Antilles gulden (or guilder) = 100 cents.

 

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A Note on the Currencies of Curaçao and Sint Maarten.



These islands were formerly part of the Associated Kingdom of the Netherlands Antilles, which was dissolved on 10th October 2010. Sint Maarten is only one half of an island - the other half, Saint Martin, belongs to France. Curaçao and Sint-Maarten separately opted to become autonomous constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. 

As of 10 October 2010, the Kingdom of the Netherlands consists of four countries:

    * Aruba
    * Curaçao
    * Netherlands
    * Sint Maarten


Both Curaçao and Sint-Maarten currently use the Netherlands Antilles Guilder. In 2012 they will adopt a new common currency, to be known as the Caribbean Guilder, which will be issued by a joint Central Bank of Curaçao and Sint Maarten. Like the Netherlands Antilles guilder, it will be pegged to the US dollar, at a rate of 1.79 guilder to one US dollar, and will therefore remain equal in value to the Aruba florin.

N.B.  Since I wrote this, the Caribbean guilder has still not been introduced. Currently the target date for the issue of the new currency is 2024. However, the currency has been planned since January 2011, so I will believe it when I see it.

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US Dollar Peggings

Of the non-US dollar currencies that I have listed, only four are not pegged to the dollar:

1] The euro

2] The Dominican peso

3] The Jamaican dollar

4] The Trinidad and Tobago dollar


Of those that are pegged to the US dollar, only the Bahamian and Bermudian dollars are pegged at a rate of one to one.

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Miscellaneous

The coins of Bermuda, the Cayman Islands, and the East Caribbean States all carry a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on their obverse, as do the collector coins of the British Virgin Islands and of the Turks and Caicos Islands.

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