concerned to provide information for us. No reply has so far been
received from St.Helena. It was considered unnecessary to contact Tuvalu since sufficient was already known of the 1977 programme with the Royal Mint (and a visit was shortly to be paid to that territory
during which further enquiries could be made). In the cases of the
Cayman Islands and the Turks and Caicos Islands much of the data was
already available from previous correspondence and contacts, so copies
of the questionnaire were circulated primarily for information, although
some additional details and comments were requested. The Pitcairn authorities were not consulted as, although they had been approached by a promotional company in 1976, they did not, on advice from London, proceed. The Gilbert Islands are understood to be planning a special coin issue to celebrate their independence, expected in 1978, but no details have so far emerged. In the New Hebrides there have been no issues on the British side, and in the East Caribbean region (including
Montserrat and the Associated States) there has only been a limited
cupro-nickel issue by the East Caribbean Currency Authority in 1970 as
part of the FAO programme to commemorate the establishment of the
Caribbean Development Bank.
4.2
Occasionally, advertising literature produced by the
promotional companies was used to supplement other sources, especially as regards pricing and specifications. Examples of such literature
are reproduced at Annex 6 to illustrate specific features mentioned
elsewhere in the report.
4.3
It was considered desirable to make certain enquiries of
the Royal Mint. As supplier of numismatic coins to some of the
dependencies, the Mint was in a position to explain its policy towards
overseas customers; but, more particularly, it was able to provide
details of the practice and philosophy underlying the redemption, backing, etc., of UK numismatic issues (see Sec.5). We are grateful for their help.
4.4
A final source lay in the legislation of the territories
Because of their differing currency positions,* the
provisions vary considerably in respect of both circulatory
concerned.
legislative
*Gibraltar, the Falkland Islands and St. Helena issue their own
currency notes, but continue to use UK coinage although local designs are issued under Royal Proclamation for numismatic purposes; BVI and the Turks and Caicos Islands use the US dollar as their domestic currencies (but Turks and Caicos "Crowns" have been introduced for numismatic issues); the Gilbert Islands and Tuvalu use the Australian dollar; Bermuda, Belize, the Cayman Islands and (only since 24th October 1977) the Solomon Islands issue both categories of physical currency.