Bermudian dollar facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Bermudian dollar
ISO 4217 Code	BMD
User(s)	Bermuda (alongside the US dollar)
Inflation	1.9%
Source	The World Factbook, 2017
Pegged with	United States dollar (at par)
Subunit
1⁄100	cent
Symbol	$
Coins
Freq. used	1, 5, 10, 25 cents, $1
Banknotes	$2, $5, $10, $20, $50, $100
Printer	De La Rue

The Bermudian dollar (symbol: $, code: BMD) is the official money used in Bermuda. Bermuda is a British territory. Each Bermudian dollar is made up of 100 cents. The Bermudian dollar is usually only used in Bermuda. It is linked to the United States dollar at an equal value. This means one Bermudian dollar is always worth one US dollar. Both currencies are used side-by-side in Bermuda.

History of Bermuda's Money

For almost 400 years, Spanish dollars were widely used in trade, including around the Caribbean. These coins were also known as "pieces of eight". After wars in Latin America, new Spanish dollars stopped coming. In 1825, the United Kingdom decided to bring its own money, called sterling, to all British colonies.

At first, this plan did not work well in many places. But in Bermuda, a different system helped. British shillings were treated as a quarter of a dollar. This helped British money become more common. By 1842, sterling officially became Bermuda's currency.

Unlike some other places, Bermuda did not start using US dollars much. Spanish dollars became less common in the 1850s. They briefly returned in the 1870s during a silver crisis. But Bermuda decided not to accept many US dollars. By 1882, only British pounds, shillings, and pence were legal money.

The British pound was Bermuda's official money until 1970. However, the Government of Bermuda printed its own pound banknotes. US and Canadian coins were often used in Bermuda. Also, the British pound might lose value. Because of these reasons, Bermuda decided to create its own decimal currency.

On February 6, 1970, Bermuda introduced its new money, the dollar. The new Bermudian dollars were used with new British decimal coins. This happened a year before the UK officially switched to decimal money. By changing early, Bermuda could order its coins from the Royal Mint before other countries.

The Bermudian dollar was linked to the British pound until July 31, 1972. After that, Bermuda linked its dollar to the US dollar at a one-to-one rate. This made things easier for the many American tourists and businesses that Bermuda depends on.

Since 1972, businesses in Bermuda must charge prices in Bermudian dollars. If you pay in US dollars, they must accept them at the same value. Only banks can change Bermudian dollars into US dollars or other money. They usually charge a small fee for this.

Bermuda's Coins

Before 1970, Bermuda did not make its own regular coins. Only special commemorative coins were made. In 1970, the Bermuda Monetary Authority introduced new coins. These were in values of 1, 5, 10, 25, and 50 cents.

The 1-cent coin was first made of bronze. Later, it changed to copper-plated steel, then copper-plated zinc. Other coins were made of cupronickel. In 1983, 1-dollar and 5-dollar coins were made from nickel-brass. The 5-dollar coin was not very popular and was removed from use in 1990. New, lighter 1-dollar coins were made in 1988. The 50-cent coin was also phased out by 1990.

All Bermudian coins show the monarch of the United Kingdom on one side. Different pictures of Queen Elizabeth II have been used over the years.

Bermuda sometimes releases special commemorative coins. These coins celebrate events, history, or local plants and animals. They have a face value, but people usually collect them. Some special ones are the "Bermuda triangles." These are triangular coins made of gold and silver.

Bermuda's Banknotes

In the 1900s, Bermuda used pound notes. The only coins were from the UK. In 1970, the government introduced dollar notes. These were in values of 1, 5, 10, 20, and 50 dollars.

From 1974, the Bermuda Monetary Authority started printing the paper money. They added 100-dollar notes in 1982. In 1988, a 2-dollar note was added, and the 1-dollar note was replaced by a coin. Older 1970 dollar notes say "Bermuda Government" at the top. Newer notes say "Bermuda Monetary Authority".

All the old banknotes were removed from circulation on January 1, 2014. However, you could still exchange them for new notes for 10 years. All the old horizontal banknotes are being replaced by the newer vertical notes from the 2009 series.

New Banknote Designs

In 2008, new banknotes were announced. They celebrate Bermuda's 400th anniversary. This was the first redesign since the dollar was launched. The new designs show "distinctly Bermudian" themes. Queen Elizabeth II is still on them, but in a smaller way.

The new notes feature scenes and animals from Bermuda's sea and land. Each value has a different color. The first million notes have a special serial number prefix, like a Bermuda onion. The new series was released on March 9, 2009. The Bermuda Monetary Authority won an award for the design of the new $2 banknote.

In 2012, the $50 banknote was changed. It now shows the correct type of longtail bird that lives in Bermuda. It used to show a different bird by mistake.

2009 series
Pick No.	Image		Value	Size	Main Color		Design			Dates
	Front	Back					Front	Back	Watermark	First printed	Issued
57			$2	140 × 68 mm		Turquoise	Bluebird (Sialia sialis)	Dockyard Clock Tower and statue of Neptune	Hibiscus flower	1 January 2009	9 March 2009
58			$5			Pink	Blue marlin (Makaira nigricans)	Horseshoe Bay Beach and Somerset Bridge
59			$10			Purple	Blue angelfish (Holacanthus bermudensis)	Deliverance and Commissioner's House
60			$20			Green	Whistling frog (Eleutherodactylus johnstonei)	Gibbs Hill Lighthouse and St. Mark's Church
61			$50			Yellow	Longtail (Phaethon lepturus)	St. Peter's Church
62			$100			Red	Red cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis) on a branch of loquat (Eriobotrya japonica)	House of Assembly of Bermuda and Bermuda petrel (Pterodroma cahow)
These images are to scale at 0.7 pixel per millimetre. For table standards, see the banknote specification table.

See also

• Economy of Bermuda