In the later 20th century there was a move towards dollar accounts in all the territories, in conjunction with the introduction of decimal fractional coinage.
Queen Anne's proclamation of 1704 the first attempt to introduce the pound sterling currency system to the British West Indies; however it failed to displace the existing Spanish dollar currency system right up until the great silver devaluation of 1873.
The next move to introduce British sterling silver coinage to the colonies came with an imperial order in council dated 1825.
The 1825 order-in-council was largely a failure because it made sterling silver coinage legal tender at the unrealistic rate in relation to the Spanish dollar of $1 = 4 shillings and 4 pence.
That occurred in 1885 as a result of the fact that the dollar of neighbouring Guatemala had driven the sterling coinage out of circulation.
The authorities wanted to return to the gold standard, and the choice of the US dollar was influenced by growing trade links with New Orleans in the USA.
Although sterling coinage circulated during this period, it did so in conjunction with the Spanish dollar unit of account at the fixed rate of $1 = 4s 2d.
Another feature of interest that was exclusive to British Guiana was the special issue four pence (4d) coin known as the groat.
But unlike the rest of the British West Indies, Jamaica had its own special varieties of the sterling copper coinage.
Jamaica and the Cayman Islands were therefore the only territories in the British West Indies to continue with a descendent unit of the pound sterling.
The private banking sector tended to use Spanish dollar accounts at the fixed exchange rate of $1 = 4s 2d.