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Cayman Islands coins: those dollars are not US dollars
Cayman Islands coins say Cayman Islands. The Cayman dollar is pegged near US$1.20–1.25, not 1:1 like the Bahamas or Bermuda. Circulating coins are usually face-in-Cayman. Silver commemoratives we weigh. Do not mix them with Jamaican or East Caribbean coins.
If it says Cayman Islands, it is not a US coin and it is not a Bahamas dollar. The Cayman Islands dollar (CI$) has been pegged near US$1.20 to US$1.25 since the 1970s. Tourist shops often use 1.25. That is not 1:1 like the Bahamas or Bermuda or Panama. East Caribbean is the other way — about EC$2.70 per US dollar. Jamaica floats and is worth much less per “dollar.”
Cayman replaced the Jamaican dollar in 1972. Queen Elizabeth (now King Charles) on many circulating pieces. Turtles, schooners, and the islands’ coat of arms show up a lot.
What a shop does
Circulating 1¢ through $1 and the common $5 coins: Cayman face, converted at the peg — a handful is lunch money, not a bid. Silver commemoratives (the 1972 $25 and later sterling or .925 / .500 issues) we weigh. Proof sets in a Royal Mint case follow the proof vs mint set talk, then the silver talk if they are silver.
Do not count a Cayman $1 as a US Silver Eagle or as a Bahamas $1. A colored turtle dollar is usually a modern circulating or collector base-metal piece. Pretty is not silver. Medal vs coin if it has no denomination.
Same cruise-ship envelope as Jamaica, East Caribbean, and Bermuda: four piles, four pegs. Bahamas and Bermuda stay 1:1. Cayman does not.
Extra history
The Cayman dollar exists because the islands left the Jamaican currency board when Jamaica went its own way. The peg to the US dollar is why American tourists still empty their pockets into our tray: the coins look “like dollars” and spend like a bit more than a dollar at home.
People also ask
Is Cayman 1:1 with the US like the Bahamas? No. Plan on about 1.20–1.25 US per Cayman dollar.
Is a Cayman $25 automatically silver? The 1972 commemorative often is. Later base-metal $1 and $5 coins are not. We read the legend and, if needed, we test.
Same as Jamaican dollars? No. Different country, different peg, different bid. World coins at a US shop.
More on the coin and money library.