Pound sterling

The pound sterling (GBP, sign: £) is the official currency used in the United Kingdom. It is also used in British overseas territories and the British Crown dependencies of the Isle of Man, Bailiwicks of Guernsey and Jersey. The pound is divided into 100 pence (singular: penny; plural: pence).

Today's coins are 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, £1 and £2. The common banknotes are £5, £10, £20, and £50.

As of August 2025, one pound is equal to 1.35 United States dollars.

 Etymology 
A pound coin originally weighed one troy pound of sterling silver, giving the currency the name "pound sterling". "Sterling silver" means mixed metal that has 92.5% or more real silver. One pound sterling was originally divided by 240 sterling pence. This was because there are 240 pennyweights in a troy pound. So a single one–pound coin weighed one troy pound (about 373 grams) and a single 1–penny coin weighed one pennyweight (about. 1.5 gram).

The Latin word for "pound" is libra. The £ or ₤ is a stylised writing of the letter L, a short way of writing libra. This is similar to how a pound of mass is abbreviated "lb". Up until around the 1970s, especially on typewriters or keyboards without a "£" symbol, it was common to write "L" instead of "£".

The symbol for pennies is p. The British write 50p or £0.50 and say it "fifty pence" or simply "fifty pee"

 The old system 
The pound has only been divided into 100 pence since 1971. Before this time it was divided into 20 shillings. Each shilling was divided into 12 pennies.

The symbols for shilling and penny came from Roman coins: "s" for shilling (from the Latin word solidus) and "d" for penny (from the Latin denarius). The penny was divided into 4 farthings. The farthing became obsolete (was no longer used) in 1961 because it was worth so little.

Coins just before the change in 1971 were: 1/2d (ha'penny), 1d (one penny), 3d (threepence; the coin was called a "thrup'ny bit"); 6d (sixpence); 1s (one shilling, also called one "bob"); 2s (a florin); 2s6d (half a crown; the crown, 5s (a quarter of a pound sterling), was not used in modern times).

How prices were written and pronounced in the old system:
 ½d (half a penny) was pronounced "haypenny" (spelt: ha'penny or halfpenny)
 2d (two old pennies) was always pronounced "tuppence"
 3d (three old pennies) was always pronounced "thrupence" or "thruppenny bit" for the 3d coin" (spelt threepence)
 One shilling was written "1/–" (sometimes called a "bob").
 Prices in shillings and pence were pronounced like this: 2/6 (or: 2s6d) "two and six" (or: "two shillings and sixpence").
 The price £4 6s 3¾d was pronounced: "four pounds six shillings and thruppence three-farthings"

There was also a guinea. Originally the guinea was a gold coin. Although the coin had not been minted or circulated for a long time, prices were still sometimes given in guineas. A guinea was 21s (or £1 1s 0d). A price of 58 guineas was, in fact, £60 18s 0d, which sounds more than "58 guineas".

 Coins 
(Following the Great Recoinage of 1816)

 Units  Pence  Shillings  Pounds Quarter Farthing  d  /-  £ Third Farthing  d  /-  £ Half Farthing  d  /-  £ Farthing  d  /-  £ Halfpenny  d  /-  £ Penny  1d  /-  £ Threepence  3d  /-  £ Groat  4d  /-  £ Sixpence  6d  /-  £ Shilling  12d  1/-  £ Florin  24d  2/-  £ Half Crown  30d  2/6  £ Double Florin  48d  4/-  £ Crown  60d  5/-  £ Half Sovereign  120d  10/-  £ Sovereign  240d  20/-  £1 Double Sovereign  480d  40/-  £2 Quintuple Sovereign  1,200d 100/- £5

Notes
(Following the Great Coinage of 1816)

 Units  Pence  Shillings  Pounds Ten Shilling Note  120d  10/-   One Pound Note  240d  20/-  £1 Two Pound Note  480d  40/-  £2 Five Pound Note  1,200d  120/-  £5 Ten Pound Note  2,400d  200/-  £10 Fifteen Pound Note  3,600d  320/-  £15 Twenty Pound Note  4,800d  400/-  £20 Twenty Five Pound Note  6,000d  520/-  £25 Thirty Pound Note 7,200d 600/-  £30 Forty Pound Note 9.600d 800/-  £40 Fifty Pound Note 12,000d 1000/-  £50 One Hundred Pound Note 24,000d 2000/-  £100 Two Hundred Pound Note 48,000d 4000/-  £200 Three Hundred Pound Note 72,000d 6000/-  £300 Five Hundred Pound Note 120,000d 10,000/-  £500 One Thousand Pound Note  240,000d  20,000/-  £1,000

 Decimalisation 
In circulation before 1971 were the halfpenny, penny, threepence, sixpence, shilling, florin, crown, sovereign, ten shilling note, and the one, five, 10, 20 and 50 pound notes.

The crown and sovereign were legal currency before 1971. By then they were commemorative coins and not commonly found in circulation. They are both still legal currency at a value of 25 pence and £1 respectively.

In 1971, the pound sterling of the United Kingdom and the Irish Pound of Ireland were decimalised (divided into 100). Most coins were de-monetised. £1 was equal to 100 pence after then. One shilling became 5 pence, remaining  of £1. £1 stayed the same.

 Decimal currency 

 Units  Value  Mintage  Notes Halfpenny  1/2p  1971–1984  No Longer Legal Tender Penny  1p  1971–present  Two Pence  2p 1971–present  Five Pence  5p 1968–present  Equal to Shilling (1s) Ten Pence  10p 1968–present  Equal to Florin (2s) Twenty Pence  20p 1982–present  Equal to Double Florin (4s) Fifty Pence  50p 1969–present  Equal to Half Sovereign (10s) One Pound  £1  1983–present  Equal to Sovereign (£1) Two Pounds  £2  1988–present  Equal to Double Sovereign (£2)
 Notes  Value Five Pounds Note  £5 Ten Pounds Note £10 Twenty Pounds Note  £20 Fifty Pounds Note  £50

 Other websites 
 The banknotes of the United Kingdom

Category:British currency
Category:Pound (currency)