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East Caribbean coins at a US shop: EC$2.70 is one US dollar
The East Caribbean dollar has been pegged at EC$2.70 per US dollar since 1976. It serves eight islands. Circulating coins are not US face. A one-dollar EC coin is about 37 US cents, unless it is a silver commemorative.
The East Caribbean dollar (EC$, XCD) is the money of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Grenada, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Saint Kitts and Nevis, plus Anguilla and Montserrat.
It has been pegged to the US dollar since 7 July 1976 at EC$2.70 = US$1. That is not 1:1. An EC$1 coin is about 37 US cents. People read the word dollar and do the Bahamas math. Wrong islands. Bahamas is 1:1. Bermuda is 1:1. Jamaica is not pegged at all.
What the coins look like
Modern circulating pieces are copper-nickel and cheaper alloys: 1, 2, 5, 10, 25 cents and $1. Older ones show Elizabeth II and a sailing ship; later ones show the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank designs. Before 1965 the region used British Caribbean Territories coins, then an EC dollar still tied to sterling until the 1976 US peg.
There are silver and gold commemoratives. Those we weigh. Fineness.
What a shop pays
A jar of circulating EC coins is a world bulk bid, or face converted at about 37 cents on the EC dollar if someone wants to be kind and the pile is small. It is not a US dollar pile. World coins. What a dollar is.
Bring silver proofs in the case. Leave the ship cents in the jar.
Continue in the coin and money library. Related visitor guides: for shop visitors.
The old sterling coins
Before the EC dollar, the islands used British coins and then British Caribbean Territories issues. Those sterling-era coppers and silver are a separate sort from a 1990s sailing-ship cent. If you have a mix, pull anything that looks silver. 90% vs sterling.
People also ask
Is an EC dollar worth a US dollar? No. About 37 US cents.
Which islands use it? Eight: six independent OECS countries plus Anguilla and Montserrat.
What about Barbados or Trinidad? They have their own dollars. Do not throw them in the EC jar.