British Virgin Islands and British Virgin Island Coins

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Obverse of 2006 British Virgin Islands 10 Dollars

Reverse of 2006 British Virgin Islands 10 Dollars

Colonisation
Like many Caribbean Islands, the British Virgin Islands were originally inhabited by Arawak Amerindians, before being supplanted by the more aggressive and war-like Carib Indians. It was not until about 1615 that the first permanent European settlement was established on Tortola, by Dutch privateer Joost Van Dyck. The Dutch settlers suffered heavily at the hands of the Spanish however, and were subjected to invasions by the Spanish on no less than 3 separate occasions.
In 1672, the Birtish seized the islands from the Dutch. Even before this however, The Virgin Islands had been notorious as a den of thieves and pirates. The reputation for lawlessness carried on into the 19th Century and slave unrest was frequent.

19th Century
Slavery was abolished in 1834, although the conditions of the slaves was barely improved as they were forced to struggle by on meagre wages paid by their former masters. This led to outbreaks of unrest, the most serious of which, in 1853 saw wholesale destruction of many plantations and sugar mills that had already suffered from a hurricane the previous year. The riots all but drove the white population from the island, and a cholera outbreak that year devastated the remaining population of the islands.

Today
Poverty and the constant threat of unrest remained a problem well into the 20th Century. However, after an increase in self-government from the 1960s onward, the Virgin Islands developed a profitable offshore financial industry, which combined with the somewhat less important but still significant) tourist

British Virgin Island Coins
The British Virgin Islands does not have its own currency. Instead, it uses the US Dollar like its larger and more populous neighbour the US Virgin Islands.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from British Virgin Islands please see our product index:-
British Virgin Island Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from British Virgin Islands on our taxfreegold website:-
British Virgin Island Gold Coins