## Currency Notes — Bermuda

## Source details

**Canonical URL:** [Currency Notes — Bermuda](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/09/currency-notes-bermuda.pdf)

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### Historical context and themes
- Bermuda’s first coins, minted around 1616, were “hogge money,” featuring a galleon and a hog.  
- The poor-quality hogge money was abandoned after a few years when tobacco became the local currency.  
- The Bermuda Monetary Authority (BMA) was created in 1969.  
- The Bermuda dollar has been pegged to the US dollar since 1972; both currencies circulate interchangeably.  
- Banknotes and coins issued by the BMA consistently highlight the Atlantic archipelago’s landscapes, flora, and fauna and are prized for their design.

### Recent issuance and recognition
- The BMA introduced new $2 and $5 banknotes last year; these are the lowest denominations of the Bermuda dollar.  
- Bermuda’s pink $5 bill won the Banknote of the Year award from the International Bank Note Society, cited for its high-tech security measures and “colorful, eye-pleasing design.”  
- The industry group High Security Printing Latin America named the $2 and $5 best new 2025 notes.  
- Future updates are planned for $10, $20, $50, and $100 bills.

### Imagery and motifs on the $2 and $5 notes
- $5 note imagery:
  - blue marlin  
  - Horseshoe Bay Beach  
  - Somerset Bridge — a short early 1600s span known as the world’s smallest drawbridge; its wood plank is less than a meter wide and can be raised to let the masts of sailboats pass through  
- $2 note imagery:
  - Bermuda bluebird  
  - Dockyard clock tower  
  - statue of Neptune — reflecting the territory’s role as a Royal Navy base for centuries  
- Both notes show the new head of state, King Charles III, in his first appearance on the currency.

### Durability, accessibility, and security features
- Substrate and durability:
  - Notes are Bermuda’s first printed on polymer substrate, a thin plastic that’s easier to keep clean than cotton and is expected to circulate more than twice as long.  
- Accessibility:
  - Visually impaired users can identify the notes by embossed dots: they form a triangle on the $2 note and a circle on the $5 bill.  
- Security features:
  - Reflective tuna with a shadow outlined on the opposite side.  
  - Another tuna visible when lit from behind.  
  - Clear window showing clouds and underwater scenes.  
  - Waves, fish, and the sun flash gold when notes are tilted.  
  - Ultraviolet light reveals hidden elements.

*Jeff Kearns and Melinda Weir, Finance & Development*

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_Source: https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/fandd/article/2025/09/currency-notes-bermuda.pdf_