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In addition to the circulating coinage, the UK also mints commemorative decimal coins in the denomination of five pounds, ceremonial Maundy money in the denomination of 1, 2, 3 and 4 pence in sterling (.925) silver and bullion coinage of gold sovereigns, half sovereigns, and gold and silver Britannia coins are also produced. Some territories ...
The pound is the main unit of sterling, [4] [c] and the word pound is also used to refer to the British currency generally, [7] often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. [4] Sterling is the world's oldest currency in continuous use since its inception. [8]
Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pence (written as 12d) in a shilling (written as 1s or 1/-) and 20 shillings in a pound, written as £1 (occasionally "L" was used instead of the pound sign, £). There were therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2/14/5
The term was adopted in England from the weight [a] of silver used to make 240 pennies, [6] and eventually spread to British colonies all over the world. While silver pennies were produced seven centuries earlier, the first pound coin was minted under Henry VII in 1489. [5]
For silver crowns, the grade of silver adhered to the long-standing standard (established in the 12th century by Henry II) – the Sterling Silver standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver.
The pound sterling (symbol: £; ISO 4217 currency code: GBP) is the official currency of the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Tristan da Cunha.
1973: UK's entry into the European Economic Community; 1992: UK's Presidency of the EU Council of Ministers and the completion of the European single market; 1994: 50th anniversary of D-Day; 1998: 25th anniversary of the UK's membership in the European Union; 1998: 50th anniversary of the NHS; 2000: 150th anniversary of the Public Libraries Act ...
At the time of the 1702 London Mint Assay by Sir Isaac Newton, the silver content of British coinage was defined to be one troy ounce of sterling silver for 62 pence, or 502 mg per penny. Therefore, the value of the monetary pound sterling was equivalent to only 3.87 troy ounces (120 g) of sterling silver. This was the standard from 1601 to 1816.