Barbadian dollar conversion

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this page last updated:: Sun 22 Jul 2018

Barbadian dollar

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Description:

The Barbadian Dollar is the official currency of Barbados. One Barbadian Dollar is made up of 100 Cents. Coins are issued in 1, 5, 10 and 25 Cents and 1 Dollar. Banknotes are available as 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 Dollars.

The images on Barbadian Dollar banknotes are of Barbadians who have made a difference to Barbados as a country. They include Charles Duncan O’Neal ($10), Samuel Jackman Prescod ($20), Errol Walton Barrow ($50), Sir Grantley Adams ($100), John Redman Bovell ($2) and Sir Frank Worrell ($5). When coins were in short supply, Barbados cut some of the coins into halves, quarters and thirds and circulated them as legal tender. They were known as "Britts." During 1920, some of the banknotes showed both sterling and dollar values. For example, 1 dollar = 4 Shillings and 2 pence.

Origin:

The first settlers in Barbados initially used English coinage, but as they were unable to mint these coins themselves and the export of coins from Britain was forbidden, this money soon ran out. The settlers were forced to trade in cotton, tobacco and sugar which were deemed legal tender at the time. Later on, Spanish Dollars, or silver pieces of eight, were introduced and became the dominant currency in Barbados. In 1848 Barbados started to use British Sterling alongside the silver pieces of eight which were still regularly used. In 1873, however, the depression of Europe and and North America saw a significant silver deficit and so the British currency was fully established. In 1949 the British West Indies Dollar was circulated and in 1965 this was replaced by the Eastern Caribbean Dollar. Today’s Barbadian Dollar was established in 1972.

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