When the Solomon Islands fell under the control of Imperial Japan during the Second World War, the Oceanian pound, a so-called "Japanese Invasion Currency", became the official currency until after the war ended and the Pound was restored.

In 1966, the Australian dollar replaced the pound and was circulated in the Solomon Islands until 1976, shortly before independence.

Economic stagnation ensued, so over the next 28 years, and especially during the civil war of 2000–2003, inflationary pressure reduced the Solomon Islands dollar to be worth 15 Australian cents.

A public awareness campaign was launched to encourage people to cash in excess coins at the bank to help alleviate the shortfall.

The reverse of each of the six original coins depicts the image of an item or symbol important to native culture, with the most notable being the 10 cent piece depicting Ngoreru, a local sea god from the Temoto region.

The interrupted reeding on the edges are also identical to that of their Australian counterparts, however, the metallurgical compositions and weights are slightly different and respective denominations are on the opposite sizes.

On 26 September 2013, the Central Bank of the Solomon Islands issued a new 50-dollar note with hybrid security features by printers De La Rue and announced it to be the first of a series of new banknotes over the course of five years as older notes wore out.