| THE EVOLUTION
OF JAMAICAN MONEY
Many
persons living in Jamaica today are only familiar with
the decimal currency or ‘dollars and
cents’ system which is used in trade for goods and services. Therefore, it
is hard to imagine a time when this was not the official currency of the
island. Nevertheless,
Jamaica
has seen many currency
changes since the time of the Tainos who used beads made from stone, bone or
shell, zemis (idols) and guanins, which were gold discs, for
trading. However, with the eradication of the Tainos by European exploitation,
Jamaica
was introduced to the currencies of several countries, which were all used at some
point in time.
When
the Spanish came to settle in
Jamaica
in 1509, they brought with
them their monies which included the real, the basic Spanish silver monetary
unit. There were also maravedis, escudos, pistoles, doubloons as well
as eight-reales or pieces-of-eight which were equivalent to
a dollar. These coins were all silver or gold except for the maravedis which was copper. Spanish coins became quite
popular in the island, especially the pieces-of eight which was also popular in
other countries throughout the world. Their popularity continued long after the
British captured the island from the Spanish in 1655. Incidentally, it was only
after the passing of the Act in 1839 making British currency the only official
currency of
Jamaica
, that Spanish currency was no
longer used.
British
coins were first introduced in
Jamaica
in 1822. Using the Spanish
dollar as a standard, 1/4, 1/8 and 1/16 fractions of the dollar were struck.
These coins featured an anchor on the reverse which earned them the nickname ‘Anchor money’. The coins were not very popular among the
populace and so they were never reissued. By 1825,
Britain
introduced several copper and
silver coins into circulation throughout the colonies.
This
included the shilling which later became quite popular. The copper coins on the
other hand were not well received by the Black populace who had grown accustomed
to silver coins. They saw the copper coins as being inferior so they refused to
use them. This resulted in a lower demand for the copper coins and a higher
demand for the shilling which was eventually used as a quarter dollar.
In an
effort to appease the Black populace, in 1834 Britain struck some silver coins
called, penny-half-pennies (penny-ha’pennies) or quatties as they were more commonly
known as because they represented a quarter real. These were well received by
the Black populace in
Jamaica
as it provided a convenient
means of spending, them being lower denomination coins, and more importantly,
they were silver. Quatties were often offered as collection at church and so
they also became known as ‘Christian
quatties’.
The
first Jamaican coins were made in 1869. Pennies and ha’pennies were struck
exclusively for
Jamaica
. Their design featured the
British monarch on the front and the Jamaican crest was on the reverse. Later,
in 1880, the farthing, a quarter of a
penny, was introduced. These coins
were in use for a very long time; the farthing was in use until 1952 when it
was withdrawn from circulation and the penny and ha’penny were discontinued only
after the official currency was changed to dollars and cents in 1969.
The
19th century saw the emergence of commercial banks in
Jamaica
and the introduction of bank
notes. Early bank notes bore the name and logo of the issuing bank. However, a
Law was passed in 1940 giving full responsibility to the Government of Jamaica
for the issuing of bank notes. Government of Jamaica bank notes were then
issued until 1961 when the Bank of Jamaica issued its first notes.
On
September
8, 1969
,
Jamaica
’s monetary system was changed
from pounds, shillings and pence to dollars and cents. Over the years, the
designs and denominations of the currency have undergone many changes.
Originally, there were coins in 1c, 5c, 10c, 20c and 25c denominations and
notes in 50c, $1, $2, and $10 denominations. In
Jamaica
today, there are coins in 1c,
10, 25c, $1, $5, $10 and $20 denominations and notes in $50, $100, $500 and
$1000 denominations.
Our
money has surely come a far way.
References
1.
Senior, Olive, A – Z of Jamaican
Heritage.
Kingston
: Heinemann
Educational Books (Caribbean) Ltd.,
1983
2. Morgan, Jacqueline, From Slave to Wage Earner: The Advent of
the Christian Quattie. (In
Jamaica
Journal Volume 17 No. 3)
Kingston
: Institute
of Jamaica Publications Ltd., 1984
3. History of Jamaican Money. A compilation by the Curator of the Bank of Jamaica.
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