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Currency history

British Caribbean / East Caribbean dollar

Dates in use
Still in use; introduction date not established here
Currency code
XCD
Ancestry branch
Spanish real / peso

Its place in the family

All ancestors and descendants ↗

Parents 1

British Caribbean / East Caribbean dollar

This currency

Children 3

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The story

ECCB’s report dates ECCA’s succession to BCCB and its first notes to 1965; ECCB was established in 1983 and issued notes in 1984. [1]

ECCB records EC$4.80 per pound before the July 1976 switch to EC$2.70 per U.S. dollar. [2]

Turning points

The inherited regional dollar account unit retained its identity under the 1838…

The inherited regional dollar account unit retained its identity under the 1838 sterling rating. [3]

The British West Indian dollar already existed as a principal unit before the…

The British West Indian dollar already existed as a principal unit before the regional currency-board reforms; the 1946 conference proposed retaining it as chief unit. [4]

Barbados government accounts moved to dollar reckoning from 1April 1949 under…

Barbados government accounts moved to dollar reckoning from 1April 1949 under Public Accounts Act1of 1949. [5]

Barbados governmentaccounts changefromsterling to dollarsandcents effective1April…

Barbados governmentaccounts changefromsterling to dollarsandcents effective1April 1949 underPublicAccountsAct1. [6]

Multiple currency unification

BCCB notes took over the note circulation of Barbados, British Guiana and Trinidad in 1951. The Barbados system is one documented input, not the only one. [7]

Replaced by

ECCA-member area only. [1]

Changing monetary anchors

Pound sterling · ECCA episode: 6 October 1965 – 7 July 1976
4.80 XCD per GBP. Terms and evidence ↗

United States dollar · 7 July 1976; confirmed through July 2021
2.70 XCD per USD. Terms and evidence ↗

Sources and evidence

  1. Eastern Caribbean Central Bank · Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2014–2015
  2. Eastern Caribbean Central Bank · Annual Report and Statement of Accounts 2014–2015
  3. H. A. Shannon · The Modern Colonial Sterling Exchange Standard, IMF Staff Papers2(2)(April 1952),318–362
  4. George Hall, Secretary of State for the Colonies, UK House of Commons · West Indies (Decimal Currency),5June 1946, Hansard volume423 columns 1994–1995
  5. Eric Armstrong · A History of Money and Banking in Barbados,1627–1973 (University of the West Indies Press,2010)
  6. Eric Armstrong · A History of Money and Banking in Barbados,1627–1973 (University of the West Indies Press,2010)
  7. Central Bank of Barbados · Annual Report 2013: Tracing the Origins of Money in Barbados

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Cite this page

“British Caribbean / East Caribbean dollar.” The Family Tree of Money. © Field Technologies, Inc. Updated 2026-10-14; data version v49. https://familytreeofmoney.org/currency/T-FTM000515.html

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