BAHAMAS MONETARY AUTHORITY THREE DOLLARS PARADISE BEACH $3 EXPULSIS PIRATIS RESTITUTA COMMERCIA THOMAS DE LA RUE & COMPANY. LIMITED.
(Translation: Pirates expelled, commerce restored.)
The Bahamas Monetary Authority was a transitional institution by design — created in 1968 to manage currency after the Bahamas achieved internal self-government but before full independence in 1973, when the Central Bank of the Bahamas took over. The $3 denomination was retained from the earlier Bahamas Government currency series, a practical concession to the tourism economy where splitting a $5 note into manageable change mattered.
De La Rue printed the full BMA series, continuing a relationship with Bahamian currency administration that stretched back decades. The $3 note from this issue is notably harder to locate in higher circulated grades than the $1 or $5 — heavier transactional use in resort cashiering took a measurable toll.
The Bahamas Monetary Authority was a transitional institution by design — created in 1968 to manage currency after the Bahamas achieved internal self-government but before full independence in 1973, when the Central Bank of the Bahamas took over. The $3 denomination was retained from the earlier Bahamas Government currency series, a practical concession to the tourism economy where splitting a $5 note into manageable change mattered.
De La Rue printed the full BMA series, continuing a relationship with Bahamian currency administration that stretched back decades. The $3 note from this issue is notably harder to locate in higher circulated grades than the $1 or $5 — heavier transactional use in resort cashiering took a measurable toll.