Picked up one of these (not this one specifically, mine is a loose 1971 proof I got for 50c US, but this is a better picture of one than I could take https://www.ngccoin.com/price-guide/world/bahamas-15-cents-km-5-1966-1970-cuid-1041894-duid-1282425 Been grabbing just about any square-shaped coin I see lately and couldn't pass this one up. This just seems a really weird denomination; I can't think of any reason anyone would need to make a coin worth 15/100 of something. Not sure what the thinking was there. I looked, the US at one time did have a 15c fractional note, but other than that and the 15c piece from the Bahamas, haven't found another country feel a need to make a 15/100 coin or banknote. Really odd denomination IMO. (Edit: OK also found a State of South Carolina 15 cent note. If anyone is trying to finish the 15 cent type set lol.)
I agree. These odd denominations are fun. Panama has 1 1/4 centesimos. Venezuela has 12 1/2 centesimos. El Salvador 3 centavos. 2 1/2 cents in a bunch of places. 4 pfennig from Germany. That's just some off the top of my head.
Love those Bahamian 15c pieces, and they have fond memories because I actually spent some in commerce when I was a kid in the Bahamas in 1974 (we lived aboard a forty-foot trimaran sailboat and spent our days island-hopping). As a sentimental thing, I added one of the 1974 10c pieces to my collection. I spent nearly fifty bucks slabbing this coin which was worth maybe $1-2 at the time, but so what. I think it's pretty, and it brings back childhood memories. (You could buy a comic book with one of these in Nassau in '74.)
Odd denominations are really intriguing! Cyprus had 4 1/2 and 9 piastre coins in the early 20th century. I collect mainly British coins and in the early 19th century we had 9 and 18 pence token coinage, but I have not got into those. What I do have is a run of the 1 1/2 penny coins known as "threehalfpence", which are tiny and cool. Probably the weirdest was the quarter farthing - there were 240 pennies to the pound, four farthings to the penny, so there were 3840 quarter farthings to the pound! They also made third and half farthings.
I think it goes back to the Spanish Dollar when it ruled the globe throughout much of the 18th century and into the 19th. Since these were still acceptable in the U.S. after 1792, a Spanish one reale (a bit) was equal to 12.5 cents. This is why we have the half cents, so I believe it has something to do with the country striking and backing them. JMHO.
If we're into odd denominations, not just 15 cents, the Continental Congress got into some strange denominations of paper, all based on the Spanish Milled Dollar. Here are some samples, 1/6th dollar, 4 dollars, 7 dollars:
When the Bahamas moved from the pound to the dollar, the rate was 7 shillings to a dollar, or $2.87 to a pound. The 15 cent coin and 3 dollar note were created as an aid in decimalization, as they were roughly a shilling and pound, respectively. Neither denomination was used heavily and today they're seen like the $2 in the US, but they have been minted and printed as recently as 2018 (15c) and 2019 ($3). My examples of each:
Such accidents of history are not uncommon see the quarter for example Outside Canada US and Pegged Countries $.25 is a odd ball with most countries and currencies use $.20 This happened, of course, because $.25 was 2 Spanish Real so made sense at the time and just never changed. In fact of the top 10 most trade currencies only the US and Canada Dollar uses $.25 In Canada and the US we thing of $.20 coins as being an odd demonination but...
