5 Dollars - Elizabeth II 2nd portrait

The Bermuda Monetary Authority was established in 1969, replacing the Bermuda Currency Board and giving the island its own independent currency infrastructure — unusual for a British Overseas Territory of its size. The $5 denomination in nickel brass was a practical response to inflation eroding the purchasing power of lower-value coins, pushing everyday transactions into a range that paper notes had previously dominated.

Arnold Machin's second portrait of Elizabeth II, introduced across Commonwealth coinage in the early 1970s, was already approaching the end of its run on most issues by 1983. Bermuda retained it briefly while other jurisdictions had moved on.