Editing Saint Helena (section)

===Banking and currency===
[[File:Saint Helena halfpenny, 1821.jpg|thumb|right|East India Company copper [[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|halfpenny]] minted for St. Helena in 1821]]
[[File:1673-1973 tercentenary 25 pence copper-nickel coin of St. Helena, photo by Omar Hoftun.jpg|thumb|right|1673–1973 tercentenary 25-pence [[copper-nickel]] coin of St. Helena]]

In 1821, Saul Solomon (the uncle of [[Saul Solomon]]) issued 70,560 copper tokens worth a halfpenny each ''Payable at St&nbsp;Helena by Solomon, Dickson and Taylor''—presumably London partners—that circulated alongside the East India Company's local coinage until the Crown took over the island in 1836. The coin remains readily available to collectors.

Saint Helena has had its own currency since 1976, the [[Saint Helena pound]], which is at parity with the [[pound sterling]] and is also the currency of [[Ascension Island]]. The government of Saint Helena produces its own coinage, banknotes since 1976 and circulating coins since 1984. Whereas circulating coins are struck with "Saint Helena • Ascension", the banknotes only say "Government of St. Helena". There are also commemorative coins struck for Saint Helena only.

The [[Bank of Saint Helena]] was established on Saint Helena and Ascension Island in 2004. It has branches in [[Jamestown, Saint Helena|Jamestown]] on Saint Helena, and [[Georgetown, Ascension Island]]. The bank took over the business of the Saint Helena government savings bank and Ascension Island Savings Bank.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.sainthelenabank.com/aboutus.htm#history |title=About Us: History of the Bank of St. Helena |publisher=Bank of St. Helena |access-date=21 July 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207095304/http://www.sainthelenabank.com/aboutus.htm |archive-date=7 February 2012 }}</ref>

For more information on currency in the wider region, see [[British currency in the South Atlantic and the Antarctic]].