Interesting facts about the
pound sterling
1.
The
pound sterling is the oldest existing currency, with origins that can be traced
back to continental Europe, It is the oldest surviving independent currency.
2.
The
name of this currency comes from the Latin word “libra”, which refers to weight
and balance. For more than 300 years the Bank of England has been the authority
issuing pound banknotes, and all along this time these notes have suffered many
changes.
3.
The
first pound coin did not appear until 1489, under the reign of Henry VII. Pound
banknotes started circulating in England shortly after the foundation of the
Bank of England in 1694, and were originally handwritten notes. The pound
functioned with its complicated system of shillings and pennies until the
arrival of the decimal system in 1971.
4.
In
1660 coin minting was mechanized and features in its design such as the side
lettering were introduced to help eradicate money-clipping.
5.
The
pound sterling has survived as an independent currency while most of the rest
of Europe adopted the euro as single currency, which at the beginning of the
21st century seemed the likely destiny of the pound sterling too.
6.
Regarding
the “pound scots”, it existed until the 1707 Union Act created a new monetary
system based on the value of the pound south of the Scottish border. The Bank
of Scotland was created in 1695, just one year after the Bank of England, and
it still survives today as part of HBOS, a subsidiary of the Lloyds Banking
Group, based in Edinburgh.
7.
Countries
using the pound sterling
8.
The
pound sterling is the official currency of the United Kingdom (made up of
England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland).
9.
Current
pound sterling Coins and Banknotes
10.
Right
now there are five different denominations for banknotes in circulation, for 5,
10, 20 and 50 pounds. There are also £1 notes but they are a rarity as they are
printed in Scotland. All pound notes include certain security measures. For
more information about these, check the web page of the Bank of England.
11.
Regarding to coins, the ones currently
circulating are of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 pennies and 1 and 2 pounds.
Occasionally special editions of £5 coins are issued but their circulation is
merely incidental.
12.
Around
980 A.D. one pound could buy 15 heads of cattle.
13.
The
English expression Spend a penny means going to the bathroom, and it originated
from the need to pay one penny for the use of a public WC. This practice
started during The Great Exhibition of 1851.
http://www.globalexchange.es/en/currencies-of-the-world/british-pound
15 Fun Facts about the Pound
Sterling
Discover a
few fun, interesting facts about the Pound Sterling, AKA Pound, Quid or GBP.
We’ve rounded up a bit of fascinating information about this popular currency,
which has the highest value of all major currencies, and here it is before you.
Will we manage to amaze you? Let’s find out.
1. The Pound Sterling is the world’s oldest
currency which is still in use
2. It is not only the currency of the United
Kingdom, but also of Jersey, the British Antarctic Territory, the Isle of Man,
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, Tristan da Cunha and Guernsey
3. A long long time ago, British cashiers had
to sign and fill in the name of each payee by hand on every single banknote.
This practice ended in 1853, when the first fully printed notes were introduced
4. In 1971 the GBP was converted to a decimal
measurement. Up until then, it had a highly confusing system of division:
Shillings and pennies. Not so confusing, you say? Try dealing with 240 pennies
to a pound, 12 pennies to a shilling and 20 shillings to a pound. Let us know
how it works out.
5. There are £1 million and £100 million
banknotes in existence – called Giants and Titans respectively. Scottish and Northern Irish banks hold them,
because they must have an equal amount in GBP as notes issued in their local
currencies.
6. Reigning UK monarchs appeared on coins for
a minimum of 1000 years, however…
7. The first UK monarch to appear on an
English banknote was no other than King George V, during World War One.
8. Since 1960, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
has appeared on every Bank of England banknote
9. During World War Two, Germany produced
massive quantities of counterfeit of British sterling banknotes in hope of
devaluing the currency and harming the British economy. By 1945, it is
estimated that 12% of the value of all banknotes in circulation were forgeries
10. In 2009 the Royal Mint allowed about 200,000
20p coins into circulation without the date of productions. This was a valuable
mistake for collectors as such coins are now worth substantially more than
their monetary value
11. The British currency is part of the IMF’s
Special Drawing Rights Basket, which also includes the USD, JPY, euro and –
recently added – the Chinese yuan
12. The GBP is the fourth most-traded currency
in the world, preceded by the USD, the euro, and the Japanese yen
13. Nowadays, many people invest in the GBP
against other currencies through CFD trading, which you can learn more about at
iFOREX
14. The English expression ‘Spend a penny’
simply means going to the restroom. It comes from the 1850s, when women were
required to pay one penny for using (unlocking) public WC
15. The most expensive UK coin ever (at least
for now) was an Edward III Florin, sold for £460,000 at an auction. Only three
of these coins are known to exist
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