Historical Sketch

The Spanish navigator Juan Ponce de León discovered the islands for the Europeans in 1512, with the consequence of the complete depopulation within a short time. The deserted islands were gradually resettled with slaves from the neighboring English colonies and developed into a pirate hideout. In 1799, they were annexed to the British colony of the Bahamas. Around 50 years later, the Turks (and Caicos) Islands were constituted as separate colony but just to become became part of the Jamaica colony already in 1873. In 1959, the islands were again split off Jamaica although the separate crown colony remained under the rule of the Jamaican and Bahamian governors until both countries had attained independence. Since 1973, the Turks and Caicos Islands are a separate British Overseas Territory.

Monetary History Overview

In the late 19th century the Jamaican currency ordinances were also proclaimed in the the Turks and Caicos Islands. In 1903, a local currency board got constituted that issued government paper money, probably circulating alongside notes issued for the neighboring Jamaica and Bahamas. The Turks and Caicos Pound was issued in small amounts only. The 1937 Jamaican Currency Notes Law formally extended the jurisdiction of its currency board to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where the local board may already have been defunct before. The currency situation did not change when Jamaica attained independence in 1962. The decimalization of the Jamaican currency was adopted, as well. In 1973, the government decided to abandon the Jamaican Dollar and to adopt the US Dollar instead. The 1974 Currency Ordinance, however, created the Turks and Caicos Crown as coinage unit at par with the US Dollar so that commemorative and collectors' coins could be issued. In 1981, even a set of subsidiary coins were issued complementing the US coins.

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