Bermuda is not a Caribbean Island. It is in the North Atlantic a couple hours off the coast of the Carolina’s. It is also not an independent country. Bermuda remains a British Overseas Territory. It also has a very low population with only 70,000 local inhabitants across its 118 islands. It is actually surprising that they have their own Bermuda Dollar banknotes.
Source: AS
Bermuda introduced the Bermuda dollar in 1970. The designs had a nice portrait of Queen Elizabeth II on the front. The reverse was different for each denomination. Vignettes of sailing, flowers and lighthouses are shown. These banknotes were very modern for their time. This is a good thing because Bermuda did not redesign their banknotes until 2008. The 2008 redesign was part of the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the settlement of Bermuda.
Source: Banknote World Educational
The Modern Bermuda Dollar
The designers made up for nearly 40 years of the same banknote design by producing a daring new series. The series leveraged De la Rue’s windowed paper. The banknote design is in portrait orientation. The colors in use are bright pastels similar to the colors seen in many Bermuda houses. Queen Elizabeth is still present on all of the Bermuda Dollar banknotes. However, she is relegated to a very small image at the bottom of each note. The International Banknote Society awarded the series as the Best New Designs of 2009.
Source: Banknote World
This series is unlike anything printed in the past. The animal scenes are vivid and detailed. Frankly, they are beautiful but they don’t really look like banknotes. They look more like novelty notes or commemorative’s. It is likely that the Monetary Authority wanted them to be collector items and therefore supported this type of design.
You can purchase Bermuda banknotes and coins by clicking here.
