Jamaican dollar

Jamaican dollar
[[Image:|126px|obverse of 10 dollars]] 1 dollar coin
ISO 4217 Code	JMD
User(s)	Jamaica
Inflation	9.1%
Source	The World Factbook, 2006 est.
Subunit
1/100	cent
Symbol	$
Coins
Freq. used	$1, $5, $10, $20
Rarely used	1, 10, 25 cents
Banknotes	$50, $100, $500, $1000
Central bank	Bank of Jamaica
Website	www.boj.org.jm

The dollar (currency code JMD) has been the currency of Jamaica since 1969. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign, $, or, alternatively, J$ or JA$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is divided into 100 cents.

History

On January 30, 1968, the Jamaican House of Representatives voted to decimalize the currency by introducing the dollar, worth 10 shillings, to replace the pound. Coins and banknotes went into circulation on September 8, 1969.

Coins

At the time of its introduction, coins of 1 cent (1.2 pence), 5 cents (6 pence), 10 cents (1 shilling), 20 cents (2 shillings) and 25 cents (2 shillings 6 pence) were produced. With the exception of the 1 cent, the sizes of the coins were identical to those they replaced. 50 cents coins were introduced in 1976 but production for circulation ceased in 1989, along with that of the 20 cents. In 1990, 1 dollar coins were introduced, followed by 5 dollars in 1994, 10 dollars in 1999 and 20 dollars in 2000. Coins currently in circulation are

• 1 cent
• 10 cent
• 25 cent
• $1
• $5
• $10
• $20

Banknotes

In 1969, banknotes of 50 cents (5 shillings), $1 (10 shillings), $2 (£1), and $10 (£5) were introduced. The $5 note was introduced in 1970, followed by the $20 in 1976, when the 50 cents note was replaced by a coin. $100 notes were added in 1986, followed by $50 notes in 1988. The $2 note was dropped in 1989, whilst the $1 note was replaced by a coin in 1990. In 1994, coins replaced the $5 notes and $500 notes were introduced. In 1999, $10 coins replaced notes, whilst, in 2000, $20 coins replaced the notes and $1000 notes were introduced. Banknotes currently in circulation are

• $50
• $100
• $500
• $1000

Use outside of Jamaica

The Jamaican dollar was used not only by Jamaica, but also by the Cayman Islands, a former dependency of Jamaica, until 1972. In that year, the territory stopped using the Jamaican dollar and adopted its own currency, the Cayman Islands dollar.

Trivia

• The five dollar coin is magnetic.

See also

• Central banks and currencies of the Caribbean
• Economy of Jamaica

External links

• Don's World Coin Gallery - Jamaica
• Ron Wise's World Paper Money - Jamaica ^{Mirror site}
• The Global History of Currencies - Jamaica
• Global Financial Data currency histories table ( Microsoft Excel format)
• Bank of Jamaica History
• Bank of Jamaica Banknotes
• Bank of Jamaica Coins