Guyanese dollar

Guyanese dollar
BanknoteCoin
ISO 4217
CodeGYD (numeric: 328)
Subunit0.01
Unit
Symbol$, G$, GY$[1]
Denominations
Subunit
1100cent
Banknotes$20, $50, $100, $500, $1000, $2000, $5000
Coins$1, $5, $10
Demographics
User(s) Guyana
Issuance
Central bankBank of Guyana
 Websitewww.bankofguyana.org.gy
Valuation
Inflation5.8%
 Source[1], 2022

The Guyanese dollar (currency sign: $, G$ and GY$; ISO: GYD) has been the unit of account in Guyana (formerly British Guiana) since 29 January 1839. Originally it was intended as a transitional unit to facilitate the changeover from the Dutch guilder system of currency to the British pound sterling system. The Spanish dollar was already prevalent throughout the West Indies in general, and from 1839, the Spanish dollar unit operated in British Guiana in conjunction with British sterling coins at a standard conversion rate of one dollar for every four shillings and twopence. In 1951 the British sterling coinage was replaced with a new decimal coinage which was simultaneously introduced through all the British territories in the Eastern Caribbean. When sterling began to depreciate in the early 1970s, a switch to a US dollar peg became increasingly attractive as an anti-inflationary measure and the Eastern Caribbean Currency Authority (of which Guyana was a member) made the switch in October 1975. The Guyanese dollar is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively G$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies.

  1. ^ Bank of Guyana. Accessed 2011-02-25.