20 Dollars Independence

Issued to mark Bahamian independence from Britain on July 10, 1973, this piece was part of a multi-denomination gold set authorized by the new Central Bank almost immediately upon its establishment. The .750 fineness — 18-karat rather than the .916 or .999 more common to modern commemorative gold — reflects a deliberate cost-containment decision that allowed broader distribution across the independence series without reducing the nominal face values.

The Fr#15 Fraser reference places it firmly within the documented Caribbean gold issues of the early independence era, a period when several newly sovereign island nations commissioned similar prestige sets from foreign mints, in this case the Franklin Mint.