The British pound has its roots way back in 8th century Anglo-Saxon England, when it was the equivalent of a pound weight of silver. By the 12th century, the coinage had started to be minted from sterling silver - a stronger mix of silver and other metals, which would not wear down so quickly. This became the standard - the pound sterling. Over time, as with all major currencies, sterling became a currency established by government regulation rather than having its own intrinsic value. Paper money started to be issued, and coins are used as tokens rather than because they are - in themselves - worth much. Fast forward to more recent times, and the decimalized pound as we now know it was introduced in 1971. Decimalization removed old units like shillings, so one pound sterling can simply be counted as 100 pennies.