The Bahamian dollar
Currency · BSD · $ · 1 country
In 1966, seven years before independence, the Bahamian dollar replaced the pound at seven shillings to the dollar. It has traded one for one with the US dollar since the government cut its tie to sterling after the devaluation of 1967, so a shop in Nassau takes either note. The Central Bank of The Bahamas has issued it since 1974.
The sign
Prices in The Bahamas are written with the ordinary dollar sign before the figure, as in $20. Where the currency has to be told apart from the US dollar or another dollar, B$ is used, and the ISO code is BSD.
The same sign stands for 28 other currencies, among them the US dollar and the East Caribbean dollar.
- ISO code
- BSD
- ISO number
- 044
- Subunit
- cent, 1/100
An amount, written out
$1,234.50
- $1,234.50EnglishBahamas
The sign in code
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UTF-8
- HTML
$$$- CSS
content: "\0024";- JavaScript
"\u0024"- UTF-8
0x24- UTF-16
0x0024- UTF-32
0x00000024
Where the Bahamian dollar is the official currency
The Bahamas issues it through its central bank. Because it stands at par with the US dollar, businesses take both, and many that serve tourists keep US notes for change.
About the Bahamian dollar
Who issues notes and coins in Nassau
The Central Bank of The Bahamas opened on 1 June 1974, the year after independence from Britain, to run monetary policy and supervise the banks. Its notes carry the words "legal tender under the Central Bank of The Bahamas Act 2000".
Two bodies came before it. A Currency Board, set up in 1919, did little besides issue currency. The Bahamas Monetary Authority replaced it in 1968 and took over the note issue, but it had no legal power to run an active monetary policy. It could not rein in domestic credit when the balance of payments worsened in the late 1960s, and the oil shock of the 1970s made the gap wider. That led to the central bank.
Why the dollar left sterling for parity
The dollar replaced the pound in 1966 at seven shillings, then US$0.98. The rate was picked so that the new currency could stand level with the US dollar while sterling stayed fixed at US$2.80.
The Bahamian currency was still linked to sterling when Britain devalued the pound in 1967. The central bank's own history records what came next: the government, looking at its growing trade with the United States, cut the link and set the dollar at par with the US dollar. Banks that held most of their assets in sterling took heavy exchange losses, and the Currency Board did not survive the episode.
The central bank still names keeping that parity as the aim of its monetary policy. Its tools are reserve requirements, the discount rate and selective credit controls, backed by moral suasion. The US dollar falls under exchange control like any foreign currency, yet the one to one rate means businesses accept both, and many that serve tourists keep US dollars on hand.
What the three dollar note was made for
Decimalisation left odd denominations behind. Three dollars came close to the old pound and fifteen cents to the shilling, so the 1966 issue included a $3 note and a square 15 cent coin to ease the switch. Both are still made. The first notes came in denominations of ½, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars. The central bank's first series of 1974 dropped the half dollar and the three dollar notes, and brought both back in 1984.
The coins carry the coat of arms and the words "Commonwealth of The Bahamas" on one side. The other side shows three starfish on the cent, a pineapple on the 5 cents, two bonefish on the scalloped 10 cents, a hibiscus on the square 15 cents and a native sloop on the 25 cents.
How the portraits on the notes changed
Until 1992 every note showed Queen Elizabeth II. From then on portraits of deceased Bahamian politicians took over most denominations, while the half dollar and the $3 kept the Queen. The CRISP Evolution series has replaced the notes one by one with new security features since the $10 of 28 September 2016, ending with the $100 on 6 October 2021. Every note measures 156 by 67 millimetres.
Common questions
Questions about the Bahamian dollar
Can US dollars be spent in The Bahamas?
Yes. The Bahamian dollar is pegged one to one to the US dollar, so businesses accept either currency, and many that deal with tourists keep US notes to give change. Exchange control still applies to the US dollar as a foreign currency.
Why does The Bahamas print a three dollar note?
The note dates from the switch to decimal money in 1966. When the dollar replaced the pound at seven shillings, three dollars came to roughly one old pound, and a $3 note gave people a familiar amount to hold on to. The fifteen cent coin was made for the same reason, since it matched the shilling. The central bank left the $3 out of its first series in 1974 but brought it back in 1984, and a CRISP Evolution version entered circulation on 28 March 2019.
What did The Bahamas use before the dollar?
The pound, tied to sterling. The dollar took over in 1966 at a rate of one dollar to seven shillings, worth US$0.98 at the time, and notes from ½ to 100 dollars were issued by the government that year. The Bahamas Monetary Authority took over the note issue in 1968, and the Central Bank of The Bahamas in 1974.
How does the central bank keep the Bahamian dollar at par?
The Central Bank of The Bahamas says the aim of its monetary policy is to keep credit conditions stable enough to hold the parity with the US dollar while the economy grows. Its main instruments are reserve requirements, changes to its discount rate and selective credit controls, supplemented by moral suasion, meaning direct pressure on the banks.