{"title":"Bermuda Coins","description":"\u003cp\u003eBermuda sits a thousand kilometers from the nearest Caribbean island, alone in the North Atlantic, but its coins belong to the same tradition of British territory wildlife coinage that stretches from the Cayman Islands to the Bahamas. The Bermudian dollar was introduced in 1970, and the coin designs turned immediately to the island's natural world: a wild boar on the one cent, a queen angelfish on the five cents, a Bermuda lily on the ten cents, a white-tailed tropicbird on the twenty-five cents, and a Bermuda-fitted dinghy under sail on the dollar. Every denomination is a portrait of something that lives on or around the island.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eElizabeth II's portrait has appeared on the obverse of every Bermudian coin since the dollar's introduction, through four different sculptors' renderings over five decades. Bermuda is the oldest British Overseas Territory — continuously settled since 1612 — and its currency has maintained a one-to-one peg with the US dollar since inception. The coins have been struck at the Royal Mint and the Franklin Mint across compositions from copper-nickel and bronze to the nickel-plated steel of later issues, but the wildlife reverses have remained remarkably stable.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe reef system surrounding Bermuda is the northernmost coral reef in the Atlantic, and the marine life on these coins — the angelfish, the tropicbird diving for fish, the sailboat navigating the reef passages — reflects a territory defined by its relationship to the ocean. Bermuda's coins are smaller than its reputation, quieter than its fame as an offshore financial center, and more beautiful than most people expect from pocket change.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"1988-bermuda-5-cents-queen-angelfish-elizabeth-ii-vf-ef","title":"1988 Bermuda 5 Cents — Elizabeth II \/ Queen Angelfish — Copper-Nickel — VF+ to EF","description":"\u003cp\u003e☢️ Fished from a pocket after a morning at Horseshoe Bay, this five-cent coin carried two queens — one on each side. The queen angelfish on the reverse, rendered scale by individual scale, and Elizabeth II on the obverse, wearing the State Diadem. Both face right. Both are named for royalty. Only one of them was designed by Raphael Maklouf.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis 1988 Bermuda 5 cents features a queen angelfish — Holacanthus ciliaris — swimming left with every scale individually engraved on the coin's surface. The queen angelfish is named for the dark-ringed spot on its forehead that resembles a crown, and its presence on the five-cent denomination gives Bermuda the distinction of having a queen on both sides of the same coin. The fish fills the reverse almost entirely, and the level of anatomical detail — gill plates, pectoral fins, the dorsal spine ridge — makes this one of the most finely rendered marine life designs on any circulating coin in the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe obverse carries Raphael Maklouf's crowned portrait of Elizabeth II, the same sculptor whose rendering appeared on coins across the Commonwealth from 1985 to 1998. Bermuda is a British Overseas Territory in the North Atlantic — not the Caribbean, though it shares the region's numismatic traditions — and has maintained the Bermudian dollar at a one-to-one peg with the US dollar since its introduction.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e💡 Everyday Life at the Time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In 1988, five Bermudian cents — equal to five US cents — contributed toward a fish sandwich from a roadside truck or a bottle of ginger beer at a Hamilton shop. Bermuda's economy ran on tourism, international insurance, and the offshore financial industry that had made the island one of the wealthiest territories per capita in the world. The pink sand beaches drew visitors year-round, and the reef system that surrounded the island — home to the queen angelfish on this coin — was both a tourism asset and an ecological treasure.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e📜 Historical Context\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Bermuda introduced its own decimal dollar in 1970, and the coin designs immediately turned to the island's natural world: a wild boar on the one cent, the queen angelfish on the five cents, a Bermuda lily on the ten cents, a white-tailed tropicbird on the twenty-five cents, and a Bermuda-fitted dinghy on the dollar. The wildlife series was a statement of island identity, even as every coin carried the British monarch on its obverse — a territory that defined itself through its reefs and its gardens while remaining under the Crown.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe queen angelfish is one of the most visually striking reef fish in the western Atlantic, distinguished by the electric blue and yellow of its body and the dark crown-shaped marking on its forehead. On a copper-nickel coin, the colors vanish but the form survives — the scale pattern, the flowing fins, the slightly downturned mouth give the fish a presence that compensates for the absence of its famous coloring. Bermuda's reef system, where this fish lives, is the northernmost coral reef system in the Atlantic Ocean.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🧾 Coin Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Country: Bermuda\u003cbr\u003eDenomination: 5 Cents\u003cbr\u003eYear: 1988\u003cbr\u003eGovernment: British Overseas Territory (Elizabeth II)\u003cbr\u003eComposition: Copper-nickel\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 5.00 g\u003cbr\u003eDiameter: 21.21 mm\u003cbr\u003eThickness: 1.90 mm\u003cbr\u003eMintage: Circulation strike, Royal Mint\u003cbr\u003eCondition: VF+ to EF — the queen angelfish retains exceptional scale detail across the entire body; individual gill plates, fins, and the dorsal ridge are sharply defined; Elizabeth II's crown and hair detail fully legible; warm copper-nickel tone with natural patina\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eAt five grams and just over twenty-one millimeters, this coin has a substantial feel for a five-cent piece — heavier and wider than most Caribbean small denominations. The copper-nickel has developed a warm golden patina that gives the fish a tonal depth it would not have had fresh from the Royal Mint. Turn the coin slowly under a light and the individual scales catch and release the light in sequence, creating the illusion of movement across the surface. The queen on the obverse has the State Diadem. The queen on the reverse has a crown of her own.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e⭐ Why This Coin Is a Great Collectible\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e • Features the queen angelfish — one of the most finely rendered marine life designs on any circulating coin, with individual scales engraved across the entire body\u003cbr\u003e• Two queens on one coin — Elizabeth II on the obverse and a fish named for the crown-shaped marking on its forehead on the reverse\u003cbr\u003e• From the northernmost coral reef system in the Atlantic — Bermuda's reefs sit hundreds of miles north of any Caribbean island\u003cbr\u003e• Part of a wildlife series spanning five denominations — boar, angelfish, lily, tropicbird, and sailboat\u003cbr\u003e• British Overseas Territory that has maintained a one-to-one peg with the US dollar since 1970\u003cbr\u003e• Raphael Maklouf portrait in the middle of the Cold War era — the same sculptor's work appearing simultaneously on coins from Britain to Bermuda to New Zealand\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e💡 Collector Tip\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Once you start assembling reef fish from different island coinages, you realize each territory chose a species that said something specific about its waters — Bermuda chose the queen angelfish, the Cayman Islands chose a crayfish, the Bahamas chose a starfish. The kind of collector who arranges coins by marine ecosystem instead of by country is the kind who starts to see a coin collection as a reef survey, each island contributing a different creature to a portrait of the Atlantic and Caribbean seafloor that no single coin captures alone.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eYou will receive the exact coin shown in these photographs. All coins are authentic and unaltered — we don't enhance patina or touch up surfaces. Grades are conservative; circulated pieces show honest wear from actual use, not damage or mishandling. Carefully packaged. Ships promptly with tracking.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eTwo queens on one coin. One wears a diadem. The other wears a crown-shaped spot that evolution put there for reasons that have nothing to do with monarchy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WadesCoinShop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48034934554838,"sku":"S-CARIB-BER-5CT-1988","price":0.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/4939\/5158\/files\/20260329_204449.jpg?v=1775249879"},{"product_id":"1988-bermuda-10-cents-bermuda-lily-elizabeth-ii-vf-ef","title":"1988 Bermuda 10 Cents — Elizabeth II \/ Bermuda Lily — Copper-Nickel — VF to EF","description":"\u003cp\u003e☢️ Tucked into a pocket after a morning at the Hamilton Botanical Gardens, this ten-cent coin carried a flower that had once made the island famous — the Bermuda lily, whose blooms were shipped by the millions to churches across North America every Easter until a virus destroyed nearly the entire commercial crop.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis 1988 Bermuda 10 cents features two Bermuda lily blooms on a single stem — one trumpet fully open, the other still unfurling — rendered with the precision of a botanical illustration. The Bermuda lily is a variety of Lilium longiflorum, the Easter lily, and for much of the late nineteenth and early twentieth century, Bermuda was the world's primary source of Easter lily bulbs. The industry collapsed when a viral disease swept through the plantations, and commercial production eventually moved to the Pacific Northwest. The flower survived in Bermuda's gardens and on its coins.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe obverse carries Raphael Maklouf's crowned portrait of Elizabeth II. The coin is smaller than the five-cent angelfish — 17.9 millimeters against 21.2 — which means Bermuda is one of those systems where the ten-cent piece is physically smaller than the five. The denomination is carried by value, not by size, and the lily fills its compact circle with an elegance that benefits from the constraint.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e💡 Everyday Life at the Time\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e In 1988, ten Bermudian cents — equal to ten US cents at the fixed peg — bought a postcard stamp or contributed toward a ferry ride across Hamilton Harbour. Bermuda's economy was anchored by tourism and the offshore insurance industry, and the island's gardens and parks were a significant draw for visitors. The lily that had once been a cash crop was now ornamental, cultivated in private gardens and public spaces but no longer exported in commercial quantities.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e📜 Historical Context\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e The Bermuda lily industry began in the 1850s when a local florist recognized that the island's mild climate allowed lilies to bloom months earlier than they could in North America. By the 1890s, Bermuda was exporting millions of bulbs annually, and the lily had become so associated with the island that Bermuda was widely known as the Lily Capital. The industry's collapse in the early twentieth century — caused by a succession of viral diseases that devastated the bulb stock — was an economic blow that the island eventually absorbed by pivoting to tourism and financial services.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe decision to place the lily on the ten-cent coin in 1970 was a memorial as much as a celebration. The flower that had defined Bermuda's agricultural identity for half a century was preserved in copper-nickel after it could no longer be preserved in soil. The design has survived across four portrait changes and continues on the denomination today, and the two blooms on the coin — one fully open, one still emerging — suggest a plant that is still growing rather than one that has been frozen.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e🧾 Coin Details\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Country: Bermuda\u003cbr\u003eDenomination: 10 Cents\u003cbr\u003eYear: 1988\u003cbr\u003eGovernment: British Overseas Territory (Elizabeth II)\u003cbr\u003eComposition: Copper-nickel\u003cbr\u003eWeight: 2.45 g\u003cbr\u003eDiameter: 17.9 mm\u003cbr\u003eThickness: 1.34 mm\u003cbr\u003eMintage: Circulation strike, Royal Mint\u003cbr\u003eCondition: VF to EF — the lily petals retain clear vein detail on both blooms; the stem and leaves show good definition; some surface spotting consistent with copper-nickel exposed to humid Atlantic air; Maklouf portrait fully legible with crown detail intact\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThis is a small coin — smaller than the five-cent angelfish from the same year, which is unusual and slightly disorienting the first time you hold both together. The copper-nickel is cool and bright, and the lily fills the reverse with a botanical precision that makes you want to look closer. The petal veins are individually rendered, the stamen is visible at the center of the open bloom, and the second flower still in trumpet form creates a visual asymmetry that gives the design life. It feels like holding a page torn from a field guide and pressed into metal.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e⭐ Why This Coin Is a Great Collectible\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e • Features the Bermuda lily — the Easter lily variety that once made Bermuda the Lily Capital of the World before viral disease destroyed the commercial crop\u003cbr\u003e• Botanical design with two blooms at different stages — one open, one still emerging — rendered with field-guide precision\u003cbr\u003e• Smaller than the five-cent coin from the same country — an unusual denomination-size inversion that surprises first-time holders\u003cbr\u003e• The flower survived on the coin after it could no longer survive commercially on the island — copper-nickel as preservation medium\u003cbr\u003e• Pairs with the queen angelfish five cents from the same year — reef and garden on two denominations from the same island\u003cbr\u003e• Raphael Maklouf portrait of Elizabeth II on a British Overseas Territory settled since 1612\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e💡 Collector Tip\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cbr\u003e Once you hold the angelfish five cents and the lily ten cents from Bermuda side by side, you are holding the reef and the garden on two coins from the same island — one creature from the water, one flower from the land, and the same queen on both obverses. The kind of collector who pairs denominations from a single country is the kind who begins to see a national coinage as a curated portrait of place, each denomination carrying a different aspect of the same island's identity.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eYou will receive the exact coin shown in these photographs. All coins are authentic and unaltered — we don't enhance patina or touch up surfaces. Grades are conservative; circulated pieces show honest wear from actual use, not damage or mishandling. Carefully packaged. Ships promptly with tracking.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eThe virus killed the crop. The coin kept the flower. Copper-nickel does not catch disease.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WadesCoinShop","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48034974040278,"sku":"S-CARIB-BER-10CT-1988","price":1.39,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/4939\/5158\/files\/20260329_204643.jpg?v=1775250686"}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0811\/4939\/5158\/collections\/20260329_204500.jpg?v=1775250955","url":"https:\/\/wadescoinshop.myshopify.com\/collections\/bermuda-coins.oembed","provider":"WadesCoinShop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}