the history of the guyanese dollar should not be considered in isolation of the wider picture surrounding the history of currency in the british west indies as a whole. ( see currencies of the british west indies ). the aspects of that history that are peculiar to british guiana are the continued use of the four pence groat coin when all other territories had abandoned it, and also the use of dollar accounts in both the public and private sectors since 1839. in the other eastern caribbean territories, there was a mixture of dollar and sterling accounts until the year 1951.