Jamaican Coins

A-Z Countries Index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Obverse of 1978 Jamaican Silver Proof 25 Dollars

Countries

Reverse of 1978 Jamaican Silver Proof 25 Dollars

Pre-British Colonisation
Before the arrival of the Spanish in 1509, Jamaica was populated by Taino Arawaks, who had, unlike many of their fellow Arawaks elsewhere in the Caribbean, largely managed to escape conquest and assimilation by the aggressive Caribs. They did not however, survive contact with the Spanish, who virtually wiped them out during their tenure over the island.
The Spanish established a site near St Annes Bay, which they named Seville in 1509, however, the settlers moved to a more promising site in Ville de Vega (later renamed ‘Spanish Town’) in 1534.

English Conquest
England’s assumption of control over Jamaica happened as the result of a fait accompli, rather than any conscious decision on the part of the English government. England’s Commonwealth Government under Oliver Cromwell had charged Admiral William Penn (father of famous founder of Pennsylvania) and Lt Colonel Robert Venables with seizing the Spanish colony of Hispaniola in 1654. This endeavour was unsuccessful, however, and the English were repulsed.
Rather than go home with news of failure and incur the wrath of the Puritan tyrant, they decided to gather the remnants of their forces and conquer another Spanish territory instead, so that they could have something to show for their efforts. The English expedition arrived in Jamaica on the 19th of May and soon overran Spanish defences, claiming the island in the name of the Commonwealth of England. The capture of Jamaica was not consolation enough for the Cromwell however, and the furious Lord Protector had Penn and Venables arrested and thrown into the Tower when they returned to England. However, he nevertheless decided to keep Jamaica as an English colony.

Rum Dealings
Despite Cromwell’s disparaging attitude to England’s new colonial possession, Jamaica proved to be a valuable colonial possession, growing prosperous for its sugar cane plantations (and its related industry, rum production) as well as coffee. The English established a settlement at Port Royal that quickly became an important hub of trade. In order to defend the island from Spanish attempts to retake it, the governor, Edward D’Oley encouraged pirates and privateers, including the notorious Henry Morgan to establish themselves in Port Royal to defend the island and to raid and plunder the nearby Spanish.
Port Royal soon degenerated into a lawless den of cutthroats, thieves and strumpets, as it became heavily dependent on buccaneering for the health of its economy. Port Royal became something of an embarrassment to England, especially when it became clear that the buccaneers didn’t always limit themselves to plundering the ships of nations that England was at war with, or even ships that were not English!
However, the English authorities realised that the buccaneers were too important to the defence and economy of Jamaica to take serious action against them until the late 1670s, when the former buccaneer (Sir) Henry Morgan (Admiral, RN) was appointed Lt Governor of Jamaica and charged with the task of cleaning up Port Royal. Pirates were no longer openly allowed to use Port Royal as a base of operations, although Port Royal retained its notorious reputation for godlessness, debauchery and crime until it was destroyed by an earthquake in 1692, a disaster that many took as a sign God’s wrath, inflicting divine vengeance on the town known amongst some circles as ‘New Sodom’.

Post Pirate Era
The destruction of Port Royal led to the establishment of a new settlement, Kingston, on the other side of the bay in 1692. Following the end of the ‘Golden Age of Piracy’ in the early 1700s, Sugar and Coffee growing became the basis of Jamaica’s prosperity. The labour-intensive nature of these industries led to the importation of vast quantities of slaves, who were forced to live and work under brutal conditions.
The plantations made Jamaica hugely prosperous however, and any slaves who objected were ruthlessly crushed. The Jamaican economy suffered greatly during the American War of Independence because of the trade disruption , and thousands of slaves were left to starve to death as a result. Jamaica’s importance to the British economy ensured that the British maintained a powerful garrison on the island to protect it, even as the war went badly for the British elsewhere.
Slavery was abolished in 1834. By this point, slaves and their descendants outnumbered the white settler population by at least 20:1. The end of slavery did not end the hardship for many of the former slaves, and a riot of poor blacks (led by Baptist minister, Paul Bogle) in 1865 was put down with brutal force, and Jamaica had its local autonomy revoked, and was reduced to the status of Crown Colony.

Road to Independence
Self-Government began to be reintroduced from the 1880s onwards, as an elected legislative council was established. By this time, the capital had been moved from Spanish Town to Kingston.
The sugar industry had gone into decline since the end of slavery, although as bananas gained in popularity in Europe and America that industry became an important part of Jamaica’s agricultural economy.
During the early part of the 20th Century, Jamaican nationalism began to rise, as did agitation for further autonomy or outright independence from Britain. The two main parties of Jamaica, the People’s National Party (PNP) and the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) were founded in 1938 and 1943 respectively, both borne out of Jamaica’s trade union movement.
As the British Empire began to dismantle itself following the Second World War, Jamaica moved towards independence. Initially, Jamaica became part of the Federation of the West Indies, a federation created by the British in 1958 with the intention of making independent as a single political entity. However, the federation broke down and Jamaica was granted independence as a singular entity in 1962.

Since Independence
Jamaica today is a mature democracy with power generally alternating between the PNP and the JLP. Although Jamaica has retained the monarchy since achieving independence, the new Prime Minister, Portia Simpson-Miller has vowed to abolish the monarchy and turn Jamaica into a republic.

Coinage of Jamaica
The first coins used in Jamaica were those of the Spanish real, and ‘pieces of 8’ flowed freely through the town of Port Royal during the age of piracy. The use of Spanish currency continued into the 19th century. In 1840, British sterling currency became legal tender in Jamaica and was successfully adopted by the local population. Because of a local reluctance to use copper coins (in part due to the fact it was considered bad luck to use copper money during church collections), cupronickel pennies and half-pennies were introduced in 1869, especially for use in Jamaica. A cupronickel farthing was also introduced in 1880.
In 1968, the Jamaican government decided to introduce a decimal currency, the Jamaica dollar, worth two dollars to the pound. Initially, coins of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 25 were introduced. Apart from the cent, (which was worth 1.2d, other denominations replaced their pre-decimal equivalents (sixpence, shilling, florin and half-crown respectively).
Over the years, inflation has hit the Jamaica Dollar heavily and the sizes and compositions of the coins have changed several times since 1968. The 1 and 20 cent coins were discontinued in 1989. The 5 cent coin has also been discontinued.
Today, coins of 10, 25 cents and $1, $5, $10 and $20 are issued for circulation. The cent denominations are struck in copper-plated steel, and the rest are issued in nickel-plated steel, except for the $20 which is a bimetallic coin with a copper-nickel centre surrounded by a nickel brass ring.
Although Jamaica has at the time of writing retained the monarchy, coins of Jamaica feature the Jamaican coat of arms on the obverse, rather than a portrait of the Queen.

For Sale and Wanted
If you are interested in coins from Jamaica please see our product index:-
Jamaican Coins

Gold Coins
We also have gold coins from Jamaica on our taxfreegold website:-
Jamaican Gold Coins