The pound was the currency of Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island

Prince Edward Island is a Canadian province consisting of an island of the same name, as well as other islands. The maritime province is the smallest in the nation in both land area and population...

 until 1871. It was subdivided into 20 shilling

Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency used in some current and former British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The word is thought to derive...

s, each of 12 pence

Penny

A penny is a coin or a type of currency used in several English-speaking countries. It is often the smallest denomination within a currency system.-Etymology:...

. It was replaced by the dollar

Prince Edward Island dollar

The dollar was the currency of Prince Edward Island between 1871 and 1873. It replaced the pound at a rate of 1 pound = 4.866 dollars and was equivalent to the Canadian dollar, which replaced it in 1873. The dollar was subdivided into 100 cents.-Coins:...

in 1871. British coins circulated, together with locally produced coins and paper money.

Coins

The only coins issued exclusively for Prince Edward Island were issued in 1813. There were two denominations, the 1 and 5 shilling. Both were produced by cutting a central plug from a Spanish dollar

Spanish dollar

The Spanish dollar is a silver coin, of approximately 38 mm diameter, worth eight reales, that was minted in the Spanish Empire after a Spanish currency reform in 1497. Its purpose was to correspond to the German thaler...

 (8 real

Spanish real

The real was a unit of currency in Spain for several centuries after the mid-14th century, but changed in value relative to other units introduced...

) coin. The plug, stamped with a sunburst

Sunburst (design)

A Sunburst is a design or figure commonly used in architectural ornaments and design patterns. It consists of rays or "beams" radiating out from a central disk in the manner of sunbeams. Sometimes part of a sunburst, a semicircular or semi-elliptical shape, is used...

, made the 1 shilling piece, whilst the similarly stamped ring made the 5 shilling piece. Due to its shape, the 5 shilling coin was known as a holey dollar

Holey dollar

Holey dollar is the name given to coins used in the early history of two British settlements: Prince Edward Island and New South Wales. The middle was punched out of Spanish dollars, creating two parts: a small coin, known as a "dump" in Australia, and a "holey dollar".-Prince Edward Island :From...

.

Banknotes

In 1790, the Island of St. Jean (as Prince Edward Island was then known) issued Treasury notes in denominations of 1, 1½, 2½, 5, 10, 20 and 40 shillings. A further issue of Treasury notes was made between 1834 and 1870, with denominations of 5 and 10 shillings, 1, 2 and 5 pounds.

Along with the Treasury notes, two chartered banks

Banking in Canada

Banking in Canada is widely considered the most efficient and safest banking system in the world, ranking as the world's soundest banking system for the past three years according to reports by the World Economic Forum. Released at October 2010, Global Finance magazine put Royal Bank of Canada at...

 issued paper money, the Bank of Prince Edward Island which
commended operations Aug 13, 1854 and the Union Bank of Prince Edward Island. However, the pounds issued by these two banks had different values relative to sterling. The Bank of Prince Edward Island issued notes in denominations of 5 and 10 shillings, 1, 2 and 5 pounds between 1856 and 1863. These pounds were worth 13 shillings 4 pence sterling and the notes also carried the denomination in sterling (3s 4d, 6s 8d, 13s 4d, £1 6s 8d and £3 6s 8d). The Union Bank issued notes between 1864 and 1865 denominated in both dollars (worth 4 shillings 2 pence) and sterling. Denominations were 1, 2, 5 and 20 dollars (4s 2d, 8s 4d, £1 10d, £4 3s 4d sterling).