The Central Bank of The Bahamas was established on 1 June 1974 and took over note issuance from that point forward. The Bahamas Monetary Authority took over the issuance of paper money in 1968, issuing the same denominations. In 1966, the government introduced notes in denominations of ½, 1, 3, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100 dollars. The 1 cent has three starfish, the 5 cent a pineapple, the 10 cent two bonefish, the 15 cent a hibiscus, and the 25 cent a native sloop. The reverses of the coins show objects from Bahamian culture with the value of the coins in words. All coins now bear the Bahamian Coat of Arms on one side with the words 'Commonwealth of The Bahamas' and the date. The 15 cent coins are still produced by the Central Bank. The current 1 cent coin is about the size of a US dime, the 5 and 25 cent coins are about the same size as their US counterparts but with different metal compositions. In 1989, cupro-nickel 50 cent and 1 dollar coins were issued for circulation, although they did not replace the corresponding banknotes. Bronze replaced nickel-brass in the 1 cent in 1970, followed by brass in 1974 and copper-plated zinc in 1985. Silver coins were not issued for circulation after 1966. The 10 cent was scallop shaped, whilst the 15 cent was square. The 1 cent was struck in nickel-brass, the 5, 10, and 15 cent in cupronickel, the 25 cent in nickel, and the 50 cent and 1 dollar in silver.

In 1966, coins were introduced in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 15, 25, 50 cents, 1 and 2 dollars.

On 20 October 2020, the Bahamas became the first country to have a legal digital currency, introducing the Sand Dollar as an alternative to the traditional Bahamian dollar. To aid in decimalisation, three-dollar bills and fifteen-cent coins were created, as three dollars was roughly equivalent to one pound, and fifteen cents to a shilling, at the time of transition. This rate allowed the establishment of parity with the US dollar, due to the sterling/dollar rate then being fixed at £1 = $2.80. The dollar replaced the pound at a rate of 1 dollar = 7 shillings in 1966, 7 years before independence. Īlthough the US dollar (as any other foreign currency) is subject to exchange control laws in The Bahamas, the parity between Bahamian dollars and US dollars means that any business will accept either US or Bahamian currency and many of the businesses that serve tourists have extra US dollars on hand for the convenience of American tourists. The Central Bank's objective is to keep stable conditions, including credit, in order to maintain the parity between the US dollar and the Bahamian dollar while allowing economic development to proceed.

The Central Bank of The Bahamas states that it uses reserve requirements, changes in the Bank discount rate and selective credit controls, supplemented by moral suasion, as main instruments of monetary policy. The Bahamian dollar is pegged to the US dollar on a one-to-one basis.

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