Trinidad / Tobago Dollar
Currency

Introduction

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is lying on the south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles and towards the northeast of the South American country of Venezuela. It shares maritime boundaries with Guyana to the southeast, Barbados to the northeast and Venezuela to the west and south.

Trinidad and Tobago was a Spanish colony and the country got its independence in 1962, and there by became a republic in 1976. Trinidad and Tobago's economy is basically industrial, emphasizing on petroleum and petrochemicals. Trinidad and Tobago has a long tradition of institutional stability and has grown at an average rate in the period 2003 - 2008. Trinidad and Tobago is prominent for its Carnival.

Trinidad and Tobago dollar

The currency of Trinidad and Tobago is Trinidad and Tobago dollar.

The Trinidad and Tobago dollar currency code is TTD and is abbreviated with $ sign or TT$ so that it helps in distinguishing from other dollar currencies. This currency is also subdivided into 100 cents. The earlier currencies were the Trinidadian and the Tobagan dollar.

Coins

The coins were introduced in 1966 in denominations of 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢ & 50¢. $1 coin was the large sized coin and was in circulation in 1969. In 1979 it was replaced with smaller sized version and was minted regularly in 1995. The 1¢ & 5¢ are in bronze, while the other denominations are in cupro-nickel.

The front side of the coins until 1976 featured Trinidad and Tobago's coat of arms and the back side featured the denomination, but were replaced by a national bird or flower after the declaration of a republic. Eventually, the 50¢ & $1 coins were hardly seen in circulation.

Banknotes

In 1898, $20 notes were introduced and in 1901 $5. Later, $100 notes were also issued. In 1926, the last notes were issued by the Colonial Bank and were then taken over by Barclays Bank that issued until 1941 $5, $20 & $100 notes.

However, in 1942 the government introduced $10 and $20. Recently, the notes were changed and more security features are included in the Trinidad Tobago dollar such that $1 is red, $5 green, $10 grey, $20 purple and $100 blue.