History
The history of currency in the British colony of Trinidad and Tobago closely follows that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. Even though Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 brought the gold standard to the West Indies, silver pieces of eight (Spanish dollars and later Mexican dollars) continued to form a major portion of the circulating currency right into the latter half of the nineteenth century.
Britain adopted the gold standard in 1821 and an imperial order-in-council of 1838 resulted in Trinidad and Tobago formally adopting the sterling currency. However, despite the circulation of British coins in Trinidad and Tobago, the silver pieces of eight continued to circulate alongside them. The international silver crisis of 1873 signalled the end of the silver dollar era in the West Indies and silver dollars were demonetized in Tobago in 1879 and in Trinidad at around the same period. This left a state of affairs, in which the British coinage circulated, being reckoned in the private sector using dollar accounts at an automatic conversion rate of 1 dollar = 4 shillings 2 pence. Government offices kept their accounts in British pounds, shillings, and pence until the year 1935 when Trinidad and Tobago went decimal.
From 1949, with the introduction of the British West Indies dollar, the currency of Trinidad and Tobago became officially tied up with that of the British Eastern Caribbean territories in general. The British sterling coinage was eventually replaced by a new decimal coinage in 1955, with the new cent being equal to one half of the old penny. In 1951, notes of the British Caribbean Territories, Eastern Group, were introduced, replacing Trinidad and Tobago's own notes. In 1955, coins were introduced when the dollar was decimalized. In 1964, Trinidad and Tobago introduced its own dollar, replacing the East Caribbean dollar at par. The Trinidad and Tobago dollar and the Eastern Caribbean dollar were the last two currencies in the world to retain the old rating of one pound equals four dollars and eighty cents, as per the gold sovereign to the Pieces of eight. Both of these currencies ended this relationship within a few weeks of each other in 1976.
For a wider outline of the history of currency in the region, see Currencies of the British West Indies.
Read more about this topic: Trinidad And Tobago Dollar
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