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Originally the term "new pence" was used; the word "new" was dropped from the coinage in 1983. The old shilling equated to five (new) pence, and, for example, £2 10s 6d became £2.52 + 1 / 2 . The symbol for the (old) penny, "d", was replaced by "p" (or initially sometimes "np", for new pence). Thus 72 pence can be written as £0.72 or ...
Because of trade links with Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms copied the Frankish currency system of 12 deniers ("d", pennies) to the sou (shilling) and 240 deniers or 20 sous to the libra ("£", pound), the origin of the name of the current British currency.
All countries and territories that formerly used the £sd system have now decimalised their currency, with most decimalisations occurring after the Second World War. Malta decimalised its currency in 1972, while Nigeria decimalised in 1973. The British pound sterling and Irish pound were among the last to be decimalised, on 15 February 1971.
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]
The first guinea was produced on 6 February 1663 (362 years ago) (); a proclamation of 27 March 1663 made the coins legal currency.One troy pound of 11 ⁄ 12 (0.9133) [citation needed] fine gold (22 carat or 0.9167 pure by weight) would make 44 + 1 ⁄ 2 guineas, [5] each thus theoretically weighing 129.438 grains (8.385 grams crown gold, 7.688 grams fine gold, or 0.247191011 ozt (troy ounces ...
Before this date, both the British pound sterling and the Irish pound (symbol "£") were subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 (old) pence, a total of 240 pence. With decimalisation, the pound kept its old value and name in each currency, but the shilling was abolished, and the pound was divided into 100 new pence (abbreviated to "p").
Spanish-American coins- unofficial; Playing cards – 1685-1760s, sometimes officially New France; 15 and a 30-deniers coin known as the mousquetaire – early 17th century New France; Gold Louis – 1720 New France; Sol and Double Sol 1738–1764; English coins early 19th century; Tokens and Army Bills – War of 1812; British Shinplaster 1870s
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.