Bermuda dollarized its currency in 1970, pegging the Bermuda dollar one-to-one with the US dollar — a peg that has held without interruption ever since. The island's economy, heavily dependent on tourism and offshore finance, made that fixed rate a practical necessity rather than a political statement. The second portrait of Elizabeth II, sculpted by Arnold Machin, replaced the first on Commonwealth coinage progressively through the late 1960s and into the 1970s, with Bermuda adopting it across the dollar series into the early 1980s.
Bermuda dollarized its currency in 1970, pegging the Bermuda dollar one-to-one with the US dollar — a peg that has held without interruption ever since. The island's economy, heavily dependent on tourism and offshore finance, made that fixed rate a practical necessity rather than a political statement. The second portrait of Elizabeth II, sculpted by Arnold Machin, replaced the first on Commonwealth coinage progressively through the late 1960s and into the 1970s, with Bermuda adopting it across the dollar series into the early 1980s.