Pound sterlin'
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Official currency of the United Kingdom and other territories
"GBP" redirects here. For other uses, see GBP (disambiguation).
£50 banknote £1 coin (obverse)
​1⁄100
Penny (pre-decimal)
p (d pre-decimal)
Quid (singular and plural)
£1[a]
£100[a]
Official user(s)
9 British territories
Falkland Islands (alongside Falkland Islands pound)
Gibraltar (alongside Gibraltar pound)
Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (Tristan da Cunha; alongside Saint Helena pound in Saint Helena and Ascension)
South Georgia and the feckin' South Sandwich Islands (alongside Falkland Islands pound)
British Indian Ocean Territory (de jure, U.S. dollar used de facto)[1]
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Isle of Man (local issue: Manx pound)
Jersey (local issue: Jersey pound)
Unofficial user(s)
Pitcairn Islands[b]
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Scottish notes:
Bank of Scotland
Northern Irish notes:
First Trust Bank
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Bank of Ireland
Crown dependency notes:
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1.4% (12 months endin' December 2019)
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Pound sterlin' (symbol: £; ISO code: GBP), known in some contexts simply as the pound or sterlin',[3] is the official currency of the oul' United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the feckin' Isle of Man, Gibraltar, South Georgia and the bleedin' South Sandwich Islands, the oul' British Antarctic Territory,[4][5] and Tristan da Cunha.[6] It is subdivided into 100 pence (singular: penny, abbreviated: p). The Pound sterlin' is the oul' oldest currency in continuous use. Some nations that do not use sterlin' also have currencies called the feckin' pound.
Sterlin' is the bleedin' fourth most-traded currency in the feckin' foreign exchange market, after the oul' United States dollar, the bleedin' euro, and the feckin' Japanese yen.[7] Together with those three currencies and the oul' Chinese yuan, it forms the oul' basket of currencies which calculate the oul' value of IMF special drawin' rights, the hoor. As of 30 September 2019[update], sterlin' is also the oul' fourth most-held reserve currency in global reserves.[8]
The British Crown dependencies of Guernsey, Jersey and the bleedin' Isle of Man produce their own local issues of sterlin' (the Guernsey pound, the feckin' Jersey pound and the bleedin' Manx pound) which are considered fully equivalent to UK sterlin' in their respective regions.[9] The pound sterlin' is also used in Gibraltar (alongside the feckin' Gibraltar pound), the oul' Falkland Islands (alongside the feckin' Falkland Islands pound), and in Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (alongside the oul' Saint Helena pound). G'wan now. The Bank of England is the central bank for the oul' pound sterlin', issuin' its own banknotes, and regulatin' issuance of banknotes by private banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland. Sterlin' banknotes issued by other jurisdictions are not regulated by the bleedin' Bank of England; their governments guarantee convertibility at par.
1.2 Symbol
1.3 Currency code
1.4 Cable
1.5 Quid (shlang)
2 Subdivisions and other units
2.1 Decimal coinage
2.2 Pre-decimal
3.1 Anglo-Saxon
3.2 Medieval
3.3 Tudor
3.4 Unofficial gold standard
3.5 Establishment of modern currency
3.6 Currency of Great Britain (1707) and the oul' United Kingdom (1801)
3.7 Use in the Empire
3.8 Gold standard
3.9 Bretton Woods
3.10 Decimalisation
3.11 Free-floatin' pound
3.12 1976 sterlin' crisis
3.14 Followin' the bleedin' Deutsche Mark
3.15 Followin' the bleedin' European Currency Unit
3.16 Followin' inflation targets
3.18 Recent exchange rates
3.19 Annual inflation rate
4.1 Pre-decimal coins
4.2 Decimal coins
5 Banknotes
5.1 Polymer banknotes
6 Monetary policy
7 Legal tender and national issues
8 Value
9 Exchange rate
10 Reserve
12 Footnotes
14 Further readin'
Names[edit]
The full official name pound sterlin' (plural: pounds sterlin'), is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with the feckin' same name. Chrisht Almighty. Otherwise the oul' term pound is normally used, that's fierce now what? The currency name is sometimes abbreviated to just sterlin', particularly in the bleedin' wholesale financial markets, but not when referrin' to specific amounts; for example, "Payment is accepted in sterlin'" but never "These cost five sterlin'". Arra' would ye listen to this. The abbreviations "ster." and "stg." are sometimes used. The term "British pound" is sometimes used in less formal contexts, but it is not an official name of the oul' currency.
Further information: Sterlin' silver § Etymology
There are various theories regardin' the bleedin' origin of the oul' term "pound sterlin'", the cute hoor. The Oxford English Dictionary states that the bleedin' "most plausible" etymology is derivation from the bleedin' Old English steorra for "star" with the feckin' added diminutive suffix "-lin'", to mean "little star" and to refer to a holy silver penny of the feckin' English Normans.[10][11][12]
Another argument that the feckin' Hanseatic League was the origin for both the oul' origin of its definition and manufacture, and in its name is that the bleedin' German name for the oul' Baltic is "Ostsee", or "East Sea", and from this the bleedin' Baltic merchants were called "Osterlings", or "Easterlings".[13][14] In 1260, Henry III granted them a bleedin' charter of protection and land for their Kontor, the bleedin' Steelyard of London, which by the bleedin' 1340s was also called "Easterlings Hall", or Esterlingeshalle.[15] Because the oul' League's money was not frequently debased like that of England, English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the oul' "Easterlings", which was contracted to "'sterlin'".[16]
Encyclopedia Britannica states the oul' (pre-Norman) Anglo-Saxon kingdoms had silver coins called 'sterlings' and that the oul' compound noun 'pound sterlin'' was derived from a pound (weight) of these sterlings.[17]
Symbol[edit]
Main article: pound sign
The currency sign for the pound is £, which is usually written with an oul' single cross-bar (as on modern banknotes exclusively since 1975).[18][19] A variation with a feckin' double cross-bar (₤) has been used intermittently with £ since the bleedin' earliest banknotes of 1725 when both were used.[18] Historically, a holy simple capital L was used in newspapers, books and letters.[20] The symbol derives from medieval Latin documents: the feckin' black-letter "L" ( L {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {L}}} ) was the oul' abbreviation for libra, the bleedin' basic Roman unit of weight, which became an English unit of weight defined as the feckin' tower pound of sterlin' silver.[21][22] In the British pre-decimal (duodecimal) currency system, the term £sd (or Lsd) for pounds, shillings and pence referred to the feckin' Roman words libra, solidus, and denarius.[17]
Currency code[edit]
The ISO 4217 currency code is GBP, formed from "GB", the oul' ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 code for the feckin' United Kingdom, and the feckin' first letter of "pound", begorrah. Occasionally, the oul' abbreviation "UKP" is used but this is non-standard because the feckin' ISO 3166 country code for the oul' United Kingdom is GB (see Terminology of the oul' British Isles). Would ye believe this shite?The Crown dependencies use their own (non-ISO) codes: GGP (Guernsey pound), JEP (Jersey pound) and IMP (Isle of Man pound). Stock prices are often quoted in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterlin', GBX (sometimes GBp), when listin' stock prices.
Cable[edit]
Main article: Cable (foreign exchange)
The exchange rate of the pound sterlin' against the oul' US dollar is referred to as "cable" in the bleedin' wholesale foreign exchange markets. The origins of this term are attributed to the oul' fact that in the feckin' 1800s, the feckin' GBP/USD exchange rate was transmitted via transatlantic cable. Forex traders of GBP/USD are sometimes referred to as "cable dealers".[23] JPY/USD is the bleedin' other currency pair with its own name, known as "fiber".[citation needed][24]
Quid (shlang)[edit]
A common shlang term for the pound sterlin' or pound is quid, which is singular and plural, except in the feckin' common phrase "quids in!".[25] The term may have come via Italian immigrants from "scudo", the name for a number of coins used in Italy until the bleedin' 19th century; or from Latin 'quid' via the bleedin' common phrase quid pro quo, literally, "what for what", or, figuratively, "An equal exchange or substitution".[26]
Subdivisions and other units[edit]
Decimal coinage[edit]
Since decimalisation on Decimal Day in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence (denoted on coinage, until 1981, as "new pence"). Sufferin' Jaysus listen to this. The symbol for the oul' penny is "p"; hence an amount such as 50p (£0.50) properly pronounced "fifty pence" is often pronounced "fifty pee" /fɪfti pi/. This also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts durin' the oul' changeover to the oul' decimal system. A decimal halfpenny was issued until 1984 but was removed due to havin' a higher cost to manufacture than its face value.[27]
Pre-decimal[edit]
Main article: £sd
The Hatter's hat shows an example of the oul' old pre-decimal system: the hat costs half a feckin' guinea (10 shillings and 6 pence).
Before decimalisation in 1971, the bleedin' pound was divided into 20 shillings and each shillin' into 12 pence, makin' 240 pence to the feckin' pound. Here's a quare one. The symbol for the bleedin' shillin' was "s."—not from the feckin' first letter of "shillin'", but from the Latin solidus, you know yourself like. The symbol for the feckin' penny was "d.", from the oul' French denier, from the Latin denarius (the solidus and denarius were Roman coins). Jesus, Mary and Joseph. A mixed sum of shillings and pence, such as 3 shillings and 6 pence, was written as "3/6" or "3s, enda story. 6d." and spoken as "three and six" or "three and sixpence" except for "1/1," "2/1" etc., which were spoken as "one and a feckin' penny", "two and a feckin' penny", etc. 5 shillings, for example, was written as "5s." or, more commonly, "5/–". Various coin denominations had, and in some cases continue to have, special names—such as crown, farthin', sovereign and guinea. See Coins of the feckin' pound sterlin' and List of British coins and banknotes for details.
By the feckin' 1950s, coins of Kings George III, George IV and William IV had disappeared from circulation, but coins (at least the penny) bearin' the bleedin' head of every British kin' or queen from Queen Victoria onwards could be found in circulation. C'mere til I tell yiz. Silver coins were replaced by those in cupro-nickel in 1947, and by the bleedin' 1960s the silver coins were rarely seen. Whisht now. Silver/cupro-nickel shillings (from any period after 1816) and florins (2 shillings) remained legal tender after decimalisation (as 5p and 10p respectively) until 1990 and 1993 respectively, but are now officially demonetised.[28][29]
At various times, the pound sterlin' was commodity money or bank notes backed by silver or gold, but it is currently fiat money, with its value determined only by its continued acceptance in the bleedin' national and international economy. Soft oul' day. The pound sterlin' is the world's oldest currency still in use and which has been in continuous use since its inception.[30]
Anglo-Saxon[edit]
Main article: Anglo-Saxon pound
A pound = 20 shillings = 240 silver pennies (formerly)
The pound was a holy unit of account in Anglo-Saxon England, equal to 240 silver pence (the plural of penny) and equivalent to one pound weight of silver. It evolved into the modern British currency, the pound sterlin'.
The accountin' system of four farthings = one penny, twelve pence = one shillin', twenty shillings = one pound, was adopted from that introduced by Charlemagne to the bleedin' Frankish Empire (see French livre). Sure this is it. The penny was abbreviated to 'd', from denarius, Latin for penny; 's' from solidus, for shillin'; and 'L' (subsequently £) from Libra or Livre for the feckin' pound.
The origins of sterlin' lie in the feckin' reign of Kin' Offa of Mercia (757–796), who introduced the feckin' silver penny. It represented the bleedin' denarius of the new currency system of Charlemagne's Frankish Empire. As in the Carolingian system, 240 pence weighed one pound, an oul' unit correspondin' to Charlemagne's libra, with the bleedin' shillin' correspondin' to Charlemagne's solidus and equal to twelve pence, bedad. At the feckin' time of the bleedin' penny's introduction, it weighed 22.5 troy grains of fine silver (32 tower grains; about 1.5 g), so the oul' Mercian pound weighed 5,400 troy grains (the Mercian pound became the feckin' basis of the feckin' tower pound, which also weighed 5,400 troy grains, equivalent to 7,680 tower grains, about 350g).[citation needed]
Medieval[edit]
The early pennies were struck from fine silver (as pure as was available). However, in 1158, a new coinage was introduced by Kin' Henry II (known as the oul' Tealby penny) which was struck from 0.925 (92.5%) silver. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. This became the bleedin' standard until the feckin' 20th century and is today known as sterlin' silver, named after its association with the currency.[citation needed] Sterlin' silver is harder than the oul' 0.999 (99.9%) fine silver that was traditionally used and so sterlin' silver coins did not wear down as rapidly as fine silver coins, you know yourself like. English coins were almost exclusively made of silver until 1344, when the oul' gold noble was successfully introduced into circulation. However, silver remained the legal basis for the feckin' pound sterlin' until 1816.
Durin' the feckin' time of Henry III, the oul' pound sterlin' equalled the tower (weight) pound.[21] In the feckin' 28th year of Edward I (around 1300), the bleedin' tale (money) pound, or pound sterlin', first began to differ from (weigh less than) the bleedin' tower pound, from which it originated, for by indenture[clarification needed] of that year the bleedin' pound weight was to contain 20s. 3d. Story? in tale pound.[21]:14 In the bleedin' 27th year of Edward III (around 1354), the pound sterlin' was now only 80% of the oul' pound weight, or 9 oz 12 dwt (or 9.6 oz) tower.[21]:15 By an Act of the 13th year of Henry IV's reign (around 1412), the bleedin' pound weight of standard silver was to contain thirty shillings in tale, or one and a bleedin' half pounds sterlin'; thus the feckin' pound sterlin' reduced to two-thirds of a holy pound weight, or 8 oz tower.[21]:18 The pound sterlin' was adjusted in weight several more times subsequently.
In the feckin' reign of Henry IV (1399–1413), the feckin' penny was reduced in weight to 15 grains (0.97 g) of silver, with a holy further reduction to 12 grains (0.78 g) in 1464.
Tudor[edit]
Durin' the reigns of Henry VIII and Edward VI, the feckin' silver coinage was drastically debased, although the bleedin' pound was redefined to the oul' troy pound of 5,760 grains (373 g) in 1526.[citation needed] In 1544, an oul' silver coinage was issued containin' just one-third silver and two-thirds copper—equatin' to 0.333 silver, or 33.3% pure.[citation needed] The result was a bleedin' coin copper in appearance but relatively pale in colour. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. In 1552, a new silver coinage was introduced, struck in sterlin' silver.[31] However, the bleedin' penny's weight was reduced to 8 grains (0.52 g), so 1 troy pound of sterlin' silver produced 60 shillings of coins.[31] This silver standard was known as the "60-shillin' standard" and lasted until 1601 when a bleedin' "62-shillin' standard" was introduced, reducin' the bleedin' penny's weight to ​7]
Unofficial gold standard[edit]
In 1663, a feckin' new gold coinage was introduced, based on the 22 carat fine guinea. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. Fixed in weight at ​44 1⁄2 to the feckin' troy pound in 1670, this coin's value varied considerably against the feckin' silver coinage until 1717, when it was fixed at 21 shillings (21/–, 1.05 pounds).[32] However, despite the feckin' efforts of Sir Isaac Newton, Master of the feckin' Mint, to reduce the oul' guinea's value, this valuation remained fixed, overvaluin' gold relative to silver, when compared to the oul' valuations in other European countries. C'mere til I tell ya. In line with Gresham's Law, English merchants sent silver abroad in payments, while goods for export were paid for with gold. Scotland, meanwhile, had its own Pound Scots. As an oul' consequence of these flows of silver out and gold in, England was effectively on a gold standard. Sufferin' Jaysus. Trade with China aggravated this outflow, as the oul' Chinese refused to accept anythin' but silver in payment for exports. From the oul' mid-17th century, around 28,000 metric tons (27,600 long tons) of silver were received by China, principally from European powers, in exchange for Chinese tea and other goods, what? In order to trade with China, England had first to trade with the bleedin' other European nations to receive silver, which led to the East India Company redressin' this trade imbalance through the feckin' indirect sale of opium to the bleedin' Chinese.[33]
Domestic demand for silver further reduced silver in circulation, as the bleedin' improvin' fortunes of the merchant class led to increased demand for tableware, begorrah. Silversmiths had always regarded coinage as a source of raw material, already verified for fineness by the feckin' government. Arra' would ye listen to this. As a holy result, sterlin' coins were bein' melted and fashioned into sterlin' silverware at an acceleratin' rate, what? An Act of the Parliament of England in 1697 tried to stem this tide by raisin' the bleedin' minimum acceptable fineness on wrought plate from sterlin''s 92.5% to a feckin' new Britannia silver standard of 95.83%. Silverware made purely from melted coins would be found wantin' when the bleedin' silversmith took his wares to the bleedin' Assay Office, thus discouragin' the feckin' meltin' of coins.
Establishment of modern currency[edit]
The Bank of England was founded in 1694, followed by the bleedin' Bank of Scotland a year later. Both began to issue paper money.
Currency of Great Britain (1707) and the feckin' United Kingdom (1801)[edit]
The pound Scots once had much the bleedin' same value as the feckin' pound sterlin', but it suffered far higher devaluation until in the 17th century it was pegged to sterlin' at a holy value of 12 pounds Scots = 1 pound sterlin'.
In 1707, the oul' Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland merged to form the oul' Kingdom of Great Britain, the cute hoor. In accordance with the bleedin' Treaty of Union, the oul' currency of Great Britain was sterlin', with the feckin' pound Scots soon bein' replaced by sterlin' at the pegged value.
In 1801, Great Britain and the bleedin' Kingdom of Ireland were united to form the feckin' United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. Listen up now to this fierce wan. However, the oul' Irish pound continued to exist and was not replaced by sterlin' until January 1826. The conversion rate had long been 13 Irish pounds to 12 pounds sterlin', you know yourself like. The Irish pound was readopted in 1928, six years after the bleedin' Anglo-Irish Treaty restored Irish independence.
Use in the Empire[edit]
Main article: Sterlin' area
Sterlin' circulated in much of the British Empire. C'mere til I tell yiz. In some parts, it was used alongside local currencies, that's fierce now what? For example, the oul' gold sovereign was legal tender in Canada despite the use of the oul' Canadian dollar. G'wan now and listen to this wan. Several colonies and dominions adopted the feckin' pound as their own currency. Chrisht Almighty. These included Australia, Barbados,[34] British West Africa, Cyprus, Fiji, British India, the oul' Irish Free State, Jamaica, New Zealand, South Africa and Southern Rhodesia. Stop the lights! Some of these retained parity with sterlin' throughout their existence (e.g. the South African pound), while others deviated from parity after the bleedin' end of the feckin' gold standard (e.g, the cute hoor. the feckin' Australian pound). Jasus. These currencies and others tied to sterlin' constituted the bleedin' sterlin' area.
The original English colonies on mainland North America were not party to the oul' sterlin' area because the above-mentioned silver shortage in England coincided with these colonies' formative years, you know yerself. As a result of equitable trade (and rather less equitable piracy), the Spanish milled dollar became the most common coin within the English colonies.
Gold standard[edit]
Durin' the feckin' American war of independence and the bleedin' Napoleonic wars, Bank of England notes were legal tender, and their value floated relative to gold, so it is. The Bank also issued silver tokens to alleviate the oul' shortage of silver coins. In 1816, the oul' gold standard was adopted officially, with silver coins minted at a feckin' rate of 66 shillings to a holy troy pound of sterlin' silver, thus renderin' them as "token" issues (i.e. Jaykers! not containin' their value in precious metal), so it is. In 1817, the feckin' sovereign was introduced, valued at 20 shillings. Sufferin' Jaysus. Struck in 22‑carat gold, it contained 113 grains (7.3 g) of gold and replaced the bleedin' guinea as the feckin' standard British gold coin without changin' the oul' gold standard, so it is. In 1825, the Irish pound, which had been pegged to sterlin' since 1801 at a bleedin' rate of 13 Irish pounds = 12 pounds sterlin', was replaced, at the bleedin' same rate, with sterlin'.
By the oul' 19th century, the pound sterlin' was widely accepted outside Britain. Here's another quare one for ye. The American Nellie Bly carried Bank of England notes on her 1889–1890 trip around the world in 72 days.[35] Durin' the oul' late 19th and early 20th centuries, many other countries adopted the feckin' gold standard. As a consequence, conversion rates between different currencies could be determined simply from the respective gold standards. The pound sterlin' was equal to 4.87 United States dollars, 4.87 Canadian dollars, 12.11 Dutch guilders, 25.22 French francs (or equivalent currencies in the bleedin' Latin Monetary Union), 20.43 German marks or 24.02 Austro-Hungarian krone. Bejaysus. After the bleedin' International Monetary Conference of 1867 in Paris, the feckin' possibility of the feckin' UK joinin' the Latin Monetary Union was discussed, and a feckin' Royal Commission on International Coinage examined the oul' issues,[36] resultin' in a decision against joinin' monetary union.
The gold standard was suspended at the bleedin' outbreak of the feckin' war in 1914, with Bank of England and Treasury notes becomin' legal tender. Here's a quare one. Before World War I, the United Kingdom had one of the bleedin' world's strongest economies, holdin' 40% of the feckin' world's overseas investments. C'mere til I tell yiz. But after the feckin' end of the oul' war, the feckin' country was indebted: Britain owed £850 million (£37.3 billion as of 2015)[37] with interest costin' the feckin' country some 40% of all government spendin'.[38] To try to resume stability, an oul' version of the bleedin' gold standard was reintroduced in 1925, under which the currency was fixed to gold at its pre-war peg, but one could only exchange currency for gold bullion, not for coins. This was abandoned on 21 September 1931, durin' the oul' Great Depression, and sterlin' suffered an initial devaluation of some 25%.[39]
Bretton Woods[edit]
See also: Economic history of the United Kingdom § 1945–1951: Age of Austerity
In 1940, an agreement with the feckin' US pegged the pound to the feckin' U.S. dollar at a feckin' rate of £1 = $4.03. (Only the oul' year before, it had been $4.86.)[40] This rate was maintained through the bleedin' Second World War and became part of the oul' Bretton Woods system which governed post-war exchange rates. Under continuin' economic pressure, and despite months of denials that it would do so, on 19 September 1949 the oul' government devalued the bleedin' pound by 30.5% to $2.80.[41] The move prompted several other currencies to be devalued against the oul' dollar.
Operation Bernhard was the oul' codename of a feckin' secret Nazi plan devised durin' the Second World War by the RSHA and the oul' SS to destabilise the British economy via economic warfare by floodin' the oul' global economy and the oul' British Empire with forged Bank of England £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes.
In 1961, 1964, and 1966, the oul' pound came under renewed pressure, as speculators were sellin' pounds for dollars. In summer 1966, with the bleedin' value of the oul' pound fallin' in the bleedin' currency markets, exchange controls were tightened by the oul' Wilson government. I hope yiz are all ears now. Among the oul' measures, tourists were banned from takin' more than £50 out of the bleedin' country in travellers' cheques and remittances, plus £15 in cash; this restriction was not lifted until 1979. Here's another quare one for ye. The pound was devalued by 14.3% to $2.40 on 18 November 1967.[41][42]
Decimalisation[edit]
Main article: Decimal Day
Until decimalisation, amounts were stated in pounds, shillings, and pence, with various widely understood notations, so it is. The same amount could be stated as 32s 6d, 32/6, £1 12s 6d, or £1/12/6. Sure this is it. It was customary to specify some prices (for example professional fees and auction prices for works of art) in guineas (one guinea was 21 shillings) although guinea coins were no longer in use.
Formal parliamentary proposals to decimalise sterlin' were first made in 1824 when Sir John Wrottesley, MP for Staffordshire, asked in the oul' British House of Commons whether consideration had been given to decimalisin' the bleedin' currency.[43] Wrottesley raised the issue in the bleedin' House of Commons again in 1833,[44] and it was again raised by John Bowrin', MP for Kilmarnock Burghs, in 1847[45] whose efforts led to the oul' introduction in 1848 of what was in effect the oul' first decimal coin in the United Kingdom, the feckin' florin, valued at one-tenth of a bleedin' pound sterlin'. However, full decimalisation was resisted, although the bleedin' florin coin, re-designated as ten new pence, survived the bleedin' transfer to an oul' full decimal system in 1971, with examples survivin' in British coinage until 1993.
John Benjamin Smith, MP for Stirlin' Burghs, raised the issue of full decimalisation again in Parliament in 1853,[46] resultin' in the oul' Chancellor of the Exchequer, William Gladstone, announcin' soon afterwards that "the great question of an oul' decimal coinage" was "now under serious consideration".[47] A full proposal for the oul' decimalisation of sterlin' was then tabled in the House of Commons in June 1855, by William Brown, MP for Lancashire Southern, with the oul' suggestion that the bleedin' pound sterlin' be divided into one thousand parts, each called a "mil", or alternatively a bleedin' farthin', as the bleedin' pound was then equivalent to 960 farthings which could easily be rounded up to one thousand farthings in the feckin' new system.[48] This did not result in the oul' conversion of the feckin' pound sterlin' into a feckin' decimal system, but it was agreed to establish a Royal Commission to look into the issue.[49] However, largely due to the hostility to decimalisation of two of the oul' appointed commissioners, Lord Overstone (a banker) and John Hubbard (Governor of the bleedin' Bank of England), decimalisation in Britain was effectively quashed for over a feckin' hundred years.[50]
However, the feckin' pound sterlin' was decimalised in various British colonial territories before the bleedin' United Kingdom (and in several cases in line with William Brown's proposal that the pound be divided into 1,000 parts, called mils). Whisht now. These included Hong Kong from 1863 to 1866;[51] Cyprus from 1955 until 1960 (and continued on the island as the oul' division of the oul' Cypriot pound until 1983); and the feckin' Palestine Mandate from 1926 until 1948.[52]
Towards the bleedin' end of the feckin' Second World War, various attempts to decimalise the bleedin' pound sterlin' in the oul' United Kingdom were made.[citation needed] Later, in 1966, the oul' British government decided to include in the feckin' Queen's Speech a plan to convert the oul' pound into a decimal currency.[53] As a holy result of this, on 15 February 1971, the UK decimalised the bleedin' pound sterlin', replacin' the feckin' shillin' and the oul' penny with a single subdivision, the bleedin' new penny. Arra' would ye listen to this shite? For example, a price tag of £1 12s 6d became ​£1.62 1⁄2, so it is. The word "new" was omitted from coins minted after 1981.
Free-floatin' pound[edit]
With the oul' breakdown of the Bretton Woods system, the oul' pound floated from August 1971 onwards, enda story. At first, it appreciated an oul' little, risin' to almost $2.65 in March 1972 from $2.42, the upper bound of the feckin' band in which it had been fixed, Lord bless us and save us. The sterlin' area effectively ended at this time, when the feckin' majority of its members also chose to float freely against the pound and the bleedin' dollar.
1976 sterlin' crisis[edit]
James Callaghan became Prime Minister in 1976. Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. He was immediately told the oul' economy was facin' huge problems, accordin' to documents released in 2006 by the oul' National Archives.[54] The effects of the feckin' 1973 oil crisis were still bein' felt, with inflation risin' to nearly 27% in 1975.[55] Financial markets were beginnin' to believe the bleedin' pound was overvalued, and in April that year The Wall Street Journal advised the feckin' sale of sterlin' investments in the feckin' face of high taxes, in a bleedin' story that ended with "goodbye, Great Britain, like. It was nice knowin' you".[56] At the bleedin' time the oul' UK government was runnin' a feckin' budget deficit, and Labour's strategy emphasised high public spendin'.[41] Callaghan was told there were three possible outcomes: a feckin' disastrous free fall in sterlin', an internationally unacceptable siege economy, or a bleedin' deal with key allies to prop up the bleedin' pound while painful economic reforms were put in place. C'mere til I tell ya. The US government feared the bleedin' crisis could endanger NATO and the bleedin' European Economic Community (EEC), and in light of this the oul' US Treasury set out to force domestic policy changes. Jaysis. In November 1976 the bleedin' International Monetary Fund (IMF) announced the bleedin' conditions for a feckin' loan, includin' deep cuts in public expenditure.[57]
1979–1989[edit]
The Conservative Party was elected to office in 1979, on a feckin' programme of fiscal austerity, be the hokey! Initially, the pound rocketed, movin' above US$2.40, as interest rates rose in response to the bleedin' monetarist policy of targetin' money supply. Here's a quare one for ye. The high exchange rate was widely blamed for the feckin' deep recession of 1981. C'mere til I tell yiz. Sterlin' fell sharply after 1980; at its lowest, the feckin' pound stood at just $1.03 in March 1985, before risin' to $1.70 in December 1989.[58]
Followin' the feckin' Deutsche Mark[edit]
In 1988, Margaret Thatcher's Chancellor of the bleedin' Exchequer, Nigel Lawson, decided that the feckin' pound should "shadow" the West German Deutsche Mark (DM), with the bleedin' unintended result of a rapid rise in inflation as the feckin' economy boomed due to low interest rates. Arra' would ye listen to this. (For ideological reasons, the feckin' Conservative Government declined to use alternative mechanisms to control the explosion of credit. For this reason, former Prime Minister Edward Heath referred to Lawson as a bleedin' "one club golfer".)[59]
Followin' German reunification in 1990, the reverse held true, as high German borrowin' costs to fund Eastern reconstruction, exacerbated by the oul' political decision to convert the feckin' Ostmark to the DM on an oul' 1:1 basis, meant that interest rates in other countries shadowin' the oul' DM, especially the UK, were far too high relative to domestic circumstances, leadin' to a holy housin' decline and recession.
Followin' the feckin' European Currency Unit[edit]
On 8 October 1990 the feckin' Conservative government (Third Thatcher ministry) decided to join the feckin' European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM), with the pound set at DM2.95. Bejaysus. However, the country was forced to withdraw from the system on "Black Wednesday" (16 September 1992) as Britain's economic performance made the feckin' exchange rate unsustainable.
"Black Wednesday" saw interest rates jump from 10% to 15% in an unsuccessful attempt to stop the pound from fallin' below the oul' ERM limits. The exchange rate fell to DM2.20. In fairness now. Those who had argued[60] for an oul' lower GBP/DM exchange rate were vindicated since the bleedin' cheaper pound encouraged exports and contributed to the bleedin' economic prosperity of the bleedin' 1990s.
Followin' inflation targets[edit]
In 1997, the oul' newly elected Labour government handed over day-to-day control of interest rates to the Bank of England (a policy that had originally been advocated by the feckin' Liberal Democrats).[61] The Bank is now responsible for settin' its base rate of interest so as to keep inflation (as measured by the bleedin' Consumer Price Index (CPI)) very close to 2% per annum. Should CPI inflation be more than one percentage point above or below the oul' target, the bleedin' governor of the oul' Bank of England is required to write an open letter to the Chancellor of the feckin' Exchequer explainin' the reasons for this and the bleedin' measures which will be taken to brin' this measure of inflation back in line with the oul' 2% target. Here's another quare one. On 17 April 2007, annual CPI inflation was reported at 3.1% (inflation of the oul' Retail Prices Index was 4.8%). Arra' would ye listen to this shite? Accordingly, and for the feckin' first time, the Governor had to write publicly to the government explainin' why inflation was more than one percentage point higher than its target.[62]
Euro[edit]
Main article: United Kingdom and the euro
In 2007, Gordon Brown, then Chancellor of the feckin' Exchequer, ruled out membership in the bleedin' eurozone for the foreseeable future, sayin' that the feckin' decision not to join had been right for Britain and for Europe.[63]
On 1 January 2008, with the oul' Republic of Cyprus switchin' its currency from the Cypriot pound to the euro, the oul' British sovereign bases on Cyprus (Akrotiri and Dhekelia) followed suit, makin' the bleedin' Sovereign Base Areas the only territory under British sovereignty to officially use the euro.[64]
The government of former Prime Minister Tony Blair had pledged to hold a public referendum to decide on the oul' adoption of the bleedin' Euro should "five economic tests" be met, to increase the likelihood that any adoption of the bleedin' euro would be in the bleedin' national interest. Arra' would ye listen to this. In addition to these internal (national) criteria, the feckin' UK would have to meet the European Union's economic convergence criteria (Maastricht criteria) before bein' allowed to adopt the euro, that's fierce now what? The Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government (2010–2015) ruled out joinin' the oul' euro for that parliamentary term.
The idea of replacin' the oul' pound with the oul' euro was always controversial with the British public, partly because of the feckin' pound's identity as a symbol of British sovereignty and because it would, accordin' to some critics, have led to suboptimal interest rates, harmin' the oul' British economy.[65] In December 2008, the results of a feckin' BBC poll of 1000 people suggested that 71% would vote no to the euro, 23% would vote yes, while 6% said they were unsure.[66] The pound did not join the oul' Second European Exchange Rate Mechanism (ERM II) after the oul' euro was created. Denmark and the oul' UK have opt-outs from entry to the euro. Theoretically, every other EU nation must eventually sign up.
As a holy member of the European Union, the United Kingdom could have adopted the bleedin' euro as its currency. Whisht now. However, the subject was always politically controversial, and the UK negotiated an opt-out on this issue. Whisht now. Followin' the bleedin' UK's withdrawal from the feckin' EU, on 31 January 2020, the oul' Bank of England ended its membership of the European System of Central Banks,[67] and shares in the feckin' European Central Bank were reallocated to other EU banks.[68]
Recent exchange rates[edit]
Main article: Economy of the feckin' United Kingdom § Exchange rates
The cost of one pound in US dollars (from 1990)
The cost of one Euro in pounds (from 1999)
The pound and the oul' euro fluctuate in value against one another, although there may be correlation between movements in their respective exchange rates with other currencies such as the US dollar. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. Inflation concerns in the oul' UK led the oul' Bank of England to raise interest rates in late 2006 and 2007. This caused the bleedin' pound to appreciate against other major currencies and, with the feckin' US dollar depreciatin' at the same time, the bleedin' pound hit a 15-year high against the US dollar on 18 April 2007, reachin' US$2 the bleedin' day before, for the bleedin' first time since 1992. The pound and many other currencies continued to appreciate against the dollar; sterlin' hit a feckin' 26-year high of US$2.1161 on 7 November 2007 as the bleedin' dollar fell worldwide.[69] From mid-2003 to mid-2007, the feckin' pound/euro rate remained within an oul' narrow range (€1.45 ± 5%).[70]
Followin' the bleedin' global financial crisis in late 2008, the pound depreciated sharply, reachin' $1.38 (US) on 23 January 2009[71] and fallin' below €1.25 against the oul' euro in April 2008.[72] There was a further decline durin' the remainder of 2008, most dramatically on 29 December when its euro rate hit an all-time low at €1.0219, while its US dollar rate depreciated.[73][74] The pound appreciated in early 2009, reachin' a feckin' peak against the oul' euro of €1.17 in mid-July. In the oul' followin' months the oul' pound remained broadly steady against the euro, with the oul' pound's valued on 27 May 2011 at €1.15 and US$1.65.
On 5 March 2009, the feckin' Bank of England announced that it would pump £75 billion of new capital into the feckin' British economy, through a process known as quantitative easin' (QE). This was the first time in the United Kingdom's history that this measure had been used, although the Bank's Governor Mervyn Kin' suggested it was not an experiment.[75]
The process saw the bleedin' Bank of England creatin' new money for itself, which it then used to purchase assets such as government bonds, secured commercial paper, or corporate bonds.[76] The initial amount stated to be created through this method was £75 billion, although Chancellor of the feckin' Exchequer Alistair Darlin' had given permission for up to £150 billion to be created if necessary.[77] It was expected that the oul' process would continue for three months, with results only likely in the bleedin' long term.[75] By 5 November 2009, some £175 billion had been injected usin' QE, and the bleedin' process remained less effective in the oul' long term. Soft oul' day. In July 2012, the final increase in QE meant it had peaked at £375 billion, then holdin' solely UK Government bonds, representin' one third of the feckin' UK national debt.[78]
The result of the bleedin' 2016 UK referendum on EU membership caused a holy major decline in the feckin' pound against other world currencies as the future of international trade relationships and domestic political leadership became unclear.[79] The referendum result weakened sterlin' against the euro by 5% overnight. Bejaysus this is a quare tale altogether. The night before the oul' vote, the bleedin' pound was tradin' at €1.30; the next day, this had fallen to €1.23. In fairness now. By October 2016, the bleedin' exchange rate was €1.12 to the pound, a bleedin' fall of 14% since the bleedin' referendum. By the oul' end of August 2017 the feckin' pound was even lower, at €1.08.[80] Against the US dollar, meanwhile, the feckin' pound fell from $1.466 to $1.3694 when the bleedin' referendum result was first revealed, and down to $1.2232 by October 2016, a fall of 16%.[81]
Annual inflation rate[edit]
The Bank of England had stated in 2009 that the decision had been taken to prevent the feckin' rate of inflation fallin' below the bleedin' 2% target rate.[76] Mervyn Kin', the oul' Governor of the Bank of England, had also suggested there were no other monetary options left, as interest rates had already been cut to their lowest level ever (0.5%) and it was unlikely that they would be cut further.[77]
The inflation rate rose in followin' years, reachin' 5.2% per year (based on the Consumer Price Index) in September 2011, then decreased to around 2.5% the followin' year.[82]
Coins[edit]
Main article: Coins of the bleedin' pound sterlin'
Pre-decimal coins[edit]
The silver penny (plural: pence; abbreviation: d) was the oul' principal and often the bleedin' only coin in circulation from the oul' 8th century until the 13th century, to be sure. Although some fractions of the oul' penny were struck (see farthin' and halfpenny), it was more common to find pennies cut into halves and quarters to provide smaller change. Very few gold coins were struck, with the gold penny (worth 20 silver pence) a rare example. Jaykers! However, in 1279, the feckin' groat, worth 4d, was introduced, with the bleedin' half groat followin' in 1344, you know yerself. 1344 also saw the oul' establishment of a gold coinage with the introduction (after the feckin' failed gold florin) of the feckin' noble worth six shillings and eight pence (6/8) (i.e. Story? 3 nobles to the oul' pound), together with the half and quarter noble, for the craic. Reforms in 1464 saw a bleedin' reduction in value of the oul' coinage in both silver and gold, with the oul' noble renamed the oul' ryal and worth 10/– (i.e. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. 2 to the feckin' pound) and the angel introduced at the oul' noble's old value of 6/8.
The reign of Henry VII saw the introduction of two important coins: the bleedin' shillin' (abbr.: s; known as the bleedin' testoon, equivalent to twelve pence) in 1487 and the bleedin' pound (known as the feckin' sovereign, abbr.: £ or L, equivalent to twenty shillings) in 1489, Lord bless us and save us. In 1526, several new denominations of gold coins were added, includin' the crown and half crown, worth five shillings (5/–) and two shillings and six pence (2/6, two and six) respectively, begorrah. Henry VIII's reign (1509–1547) saw a feckin' high level of debasement which continued into the bleedin' reign of Edward VI (1547–1553). Story? This debasement was halted in 1552, and new silver coinage was introduced, includin' coins for 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d and 6d, 1/–, 2/6 and 5/–. G'wan now. In the oul' reign of Elizabeth I (1558–1603), silver ​3⁄4d and ​1 1⁄2d coins were added, but these denominations did not last. Me head is hurtin' with all this raidin'. Gold coins included the bleedin' half-crown, crown, angel, half-sovereign (10/–) and sovereign (£1). Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. Elizabeth's reign also saw the bleedin' introduction of the oul' horse-drawn screw press to produce the bleedin' first "milled" coins.
Followin' the feckin' succession of the bleedin' Scottish Kin' James VI to the English throne, a feckin' new gold coinage was introduced, includin' the feckin' spur ryal (15/–), the unite (20/–) and the feckin' rose ryal (30/–). The laurel, worth 20/–, followed in 1619, to be sure. The first base metal coins were also introduced: tin and copper farthings. Bejaysus here's a quare one right here now. Copper halfpenny coins followed in the bleedin' reign of Charles I. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. Durin' the bleedin' English Civil War, a holy number of siege coinages were produced, often in unusual denominations.
Followin' the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, the oul' coinage was reformed, with the bleedin' endin' of production of hammered coins in 1662, would ye believe it? The guinea was introduced in 1663, soon followed by the ​1⁄2, 2 and 5 guinea coins. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The silver coinage consisted of denominations of 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d and 6d, 1/–, 2/6 and 5/–, the shitehawk. Due to the feckin' widespread export of silver in the oul' 18th century, the bleedin' production of silver coins gradually came to a halt, with the half crown and crown not issued after the feckin' 1750s, the 6d and 1/– stoppin' production in the 1780s. In response, copper 1d and 2d coins and a gold ​1⁄3 guinea (7/–) were introduced in 1797. The copper penny was the oul' only one of these coins to survive long.
To alleviate the bleedin' shortage of silver coins, between 1797 and 1804, the bleedin' Bank of England counterstamped Spanish dollars (8 reales) and other Spanish and Spanish colonial coins for circulation, Lord bless us and save us. A small counterstamp of the feckin' Kin''s head was used. Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. Until 1800, these circulated at a rate of 4/9 for 8 reales, you know yerself. After 1800, a feckin' rate of 5/- for 8 reales was used. Chrisht Almighty. The Bank then issued silver tokens for 5/– (struck over Spanish dollars) in 1804, followed by tokens for 1/6 and 3/– between 1811 and 1816.
In 1816, a new silver coinage was introduced in denominations of 6d, 1/–, 2/6 (half-crown) and 5/– (crown). The crown was only issued intermittently until 1900. It was followed by a new gold coinage in 1817 consistin' of 10/– and £1 coins, known as the half sovereign and sovereign. The silver 4d coin was reintroduced in 1836, followed by the feckin' 3d in 1838, with the 4d coin issued only for colonial use after 1855, enda story. In 1848, the bleedin' 2/– florin was introduced, followed by the feckin' short-lived double florin in 1887. In 1860, copper was replaced by bronze in the oul' farthin' (quarter penny, ​1⁄4d), halfpenny and penny.
Durin' the feckin' First World War, production of the sovereign and half-sovereign was suspended, and although the oul' gold standard was later restored, the bleedin' coins saw little circulation thereafter. Stop the lights! In 1920, the feckin' silver standard, maintained at .925 since 1552, was reduced to .500. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. In 1937, a feckin' nickel-brass 3d coin was introduced; the feckin' last silver 3d coins were issued seven years later. In 1947, the bleedin' remainin' silver coins were replaced with cupro-nickel, with the exception of Maundy coinage which was then restored to .925, bedad. Inflation caused the oul' farthin' to cease production in 1956 and be demonetised in 1960. In the bleedin' run-up to decimalisation, the bleedin' halfpenny and half-crown were demonetised in 1969.
Decimal coins[edit]
£1 coin (new design, 2016)
Elizabeth II English rose, Welsh leek, Scottish thistle, and Northern Irish shamrock.
British coinage timeline:
1968: The first decimal coins were introduced, what? These were cupro-nickel 5p and 10p coins which were the same size as, equivalent in value to, and circulated alongside, the oul' one shillin' coin and the feckin' florin (two shillin' coin) respectively.
1969: The curved equilateral heptagonal cupro-nickel 50p coin replaced the bleedin' ten shillin' banknote (10/–).
1970: The Half crown (2/6, 12.5p) was demonetised.
1971: The decimal coinage was completed when decimalisation came into effect in 1971 with the introduction of the bleedin' bronze half new penny (​1⁄2p), new penny (1p), and two new pence (2p) coins and the bleedin' withdrawal of the feckin' (old) penny (1d) and (old) threepence (3d) coins.
1980: Withdrawal of the sixpence (6d) coin, which had continued in circulation at a value of ​2 1⁄2p.
1982: The word "new" was dropped from the bleedin' coinage and a 20p coin was introduced.
1983: A (round, brass) £1 coin was introduced.
1983: The ​1⁄2p coin was last produced.
1984: The ​1⁄2p coin was withdrawn from circulation.
1990: The crown, historically valued at five shillings (25p), was re-tariffed for future issues as a feckin' commemorative coin at £5.
1990: A new 5p coin was introduced, replacin' the bleedin' original size that had been the feckin' same as the shillin' coins of the oul' same value that it had in turn replaced. Here's a quare one for ye. These first generation 5p coins and any remainin' old shillin' coins were withdrawn from circulation in 1991.
1992: A new 10p coin was introduced, replacin' the feckin' original size that had been the oul' same as the feckin' florin or two shillin' coins of the bleedin' same value that it had in turn replaced. These first generation 10p coins and any remainin' old florin coins were withdrawn from circulation over the bleedin' followin' two years.
1992: 1p and 2p coins began to be minted in copper-plated steel (the original bronze coins continued in circulation).
1997: A new 50p coin was introduced, replacin' the bleedin' original size that had been in use since 1969, and the first generation 50p coins were withdrawn from circulation.
1998: The bi-metallic £2 coin was introduced.
2007: By now the feckin' value of copper in the bleedin' pre-1992 1p and 2p coins (which are 97% copper) exceeded those coins' face value to such an extent that meltin' down the oul' coins by entrepreneurs was becomin' worthwhile (with a bleedin' premium of up to 11%, with smeltin' costs reducin' this to around 4%)—although this is illegal, and the bleedin' market value of copper has subsequently fallen dramatically from these earlier peaks.
In April 2008, an extensive redesign of the bleedin' coinage was unveiled. C'mere til I tell ya now. The 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p coins feature parts of the oul' Royal Shield on their reverse; and the reverse of the bleedin' pound coin showed the feckin' whole shield. Here's a quare one for ye. The coins were issued gradually into circulation, startin' in mid-2008. Arra' would ye listen to this shite? They have the same sizes, shapes and weights as those with the feckin' old designs which, apart from the bleedin' round pound coin which was withdrawn in 2017, continue to circulate.
2012: The 5p and 10p coins were changed from cupro-nickel to nickel-plated steel.
2016: The Royal Mint began mintin' legal tender decimal sixpence coins in silver,[83] not intended for regular circulation but to be bought as Christmas presents and for the feckin' traditional weddin' tradition for the bride: "and a holy silver sixpence in your shoe".[84]
2017: A more secure twelve-sided bi-metallic £1 coin was introduced to reduce forgery. The old round £1 coin ceased to be legal tender on 15 October 2017.[85]
As of 2020[update], the bleedin' oldest circulatin' coins in the bleedin' UK are the oul' 1p and 2p copper coins introduced in 1971. In fairness now. No other coins from before 1982 are in circulation. Jasus. Prior to the bleedin' withdrawal from circulation in 1992, the oul' oldest circulatin' coins had usually dated from 1947: although older coins (shillin'; florin, sixpence to 1980) were still legal tender, inflation meant that their silver content was worth more than their face value, which meant that they tended to be removed from circulation. C'mere til I tell ya now. Before decimalisation in 1971, a handful of change might have contained coins 100 or more years old, bearin' any of five monarchs' heads, especially in the copper coins.
Banknotes[edit]
Main article: Banknotes of the pound sterlin'
Reverse of a £5 Series G Bank of England note
The first sterlin' notes were issued by the bleedin' Bank of England shortly after its foundation in 1694. Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. Denominations were initially handwritten on the feckin' notes at the oul' time of issue. G'wan now and listen to this wan. From 1745, the oul' notes were printed in denominations between £20 and £1000, with any odd shillings added by hand. Be the holy feck, this is a quare wan. £10 notes were added in 1759, followed by £5 in 1793 and £1 and £2 in 1797. C'mere til I tell ya now. The lowest two denominations were withdrawn after the oul' end of the feckin' Napoleonic wars. In 1855, the feckin' notes were converted to bein' entirely printed, with denominations of £5, £10, £20, £50, £100, £200, £300, £500 and £1000 issued.
The Bank of Scotland began issuin' notes in 1695. Although the feckin' pound Scots was still the feckin' currency of Scotland, these notes were denominated in sterlin' in values up to £100. Would ye swally this in a minute now?From 1727, the oul' Royal Bank of Scotland also issued notes, bedad. Both banks issued some notes denominated in guineas as well as pounds. In fairness now. In the oul' 19th century, regulations limited the feckin' smallest note issued by Scottish banks to be the oul' £1 denomination, a note not permitted in England.
With the feckin' extension of sterlin' to Ireland in 1825, the bleedin' Bank of Ireland began issuin' sterlin' notes, later followed by other Irish banks. These notes included the feckin' unusual denominations of 30/- and £3. The highest denomination issued by the Irish banks was £100.
In 1826, banks at least 65 miles (105 km) from London were given permission to issue their own paper money. Holy blatherin' Joseph, listen to this. From 1844, new banks were excluded from issuin' notes in England and Wales but not in Scotland and Ireland. Here's another quare one for ye. Consequently, the bleedin' number of private banknotes dwindled in England and Wales but proliferated in Scotland and Ireland. Jesus Mother of Chrisht almighty. The last English private banknotes were issued in 1921.
In 1914, the bleedin' Treasury introduced notes for 10/- and £1 to replace gold coins. These circulated until 1928 when they were replaced by Bank of England notes. G'wan now. Irish independence reduced the feckin' number of Irish banks issuin' sterlin' notes to five operatin' in Northern Ireland. Soft oul' day. The Second World War had a drastic effect on the feckin' note production of the Bank of England. Would ye swally this in a minute now?Fearful of mass forgery by the Nazis (see Operation Bernhard), all notes for £10 and above ceased production, leavin' the feckin' bank to issue only 10/-, £1 and £5 notes. Whisht now. Scottish and Northern Irish issues were unaffected, with issues in denominations of £1, £5, £10, £20, £50 and £100.
The Bank of England reintroduced £10 notes in 1964, the cute hoor. In 1969, the feckin' 10/- note was replaced by the oul' 50p coin to prepare for decimalisation. £20 Bank of England notes were reintroduced in 1970, followed by £50 in 1981.[86] A £1 coin was introduced in 1983, and Bank of England £1 notes were withdrawn in 1988. Be the hokey here's a quare wan. Scottish and Northern Irish banks followed, with only the Royal Bank of Scotland continuin' to issue this denomination.
UK notes include raised print (e.g, would ye swally that? on the oul' words "Bank of England"); watermarks; embedded metallic thread; holograms; and fluorescent ink visible only under UV lamps. Three printin' techniques are involved: offset litho, intaglio and letterpress; and the oul' notes incorporate a holy total of 85 specialized inks.[87]
The Bank of England produces notes named "giant" and "titan".[88] A giant is a one million pound note, and a feckin' titan is an oul' one hundred million pound bank note,[89] of which there are about 40. Whisht now. Giants and titans are used only within the bleedin' bankin' system.
Polymer banknotes[edit]
The Northern Bank £5 note, issued by (Northern Ireland's) Northern Bank (now Danske Bank) in 2000, was the oul' only polymer banknote in circulation until 2016. Stop the lights! The Bank of England introduced £5 polymer banknotes in September 2016, and the bleedin' paper £5 notes were withdrawn on 5 May 2017. Bejaysus. A polymer £10 banknote was introduced on 14 September 2017, and the paper note was withdrawn on 1 March 2018, fair play. A polymer £20 banknote was introduced on 20 February 2020, to be followed by a holy polymer £50 in 2021.[90]
Monetary policy[edit]
As the feckin' central bank of the oul' United Kingdom which has been delegated authority by the feckin' government, the feckin' Bank of England sets the oul' monetary policy for the bleedin' British pound by controllin' the bleedin' amount of money in circulation. It has a holy monopoly on the oul' issuance of banknotes in England and Wales and regulates the feckin' amount of banknotes issued by seven authorized banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland.[91] HM Treasury has reserve powers to give orders to the feckin' committee "if they are required in the public interest and by extreme economic circumstances" but such orders must be endorsed by Parliament within 28 days.[92]
Unlike banknotes which have separate issuers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, all UK coins are issued by the Royal Mint, which is an independent enterprise (wholly owned by the Treasury) which also mints coins for other countries.
In Britain's Crown Dependencies, the feckin' Manx pound, Jersey pound, and Guernsey pound are unregulated by the oul' Bank of England and are issued independently.[93] However, they are maintained at a fixed exchange rate by their respective governments, and Bank of England notes have been made legal tender on the oul' islands, formin' a feckin' sort of one-way de facto currency union. Story? These currencies do not have ISO 4217 codes, so "GBP" is usually used to represent all of them; informal codes are used where the difference is important.
British Overseas Territories are responsible for the bleedin' monetary policy of their own currencies (where they exist),[94] and have their own ISO 4217 codes. Whisht now. The Falkland Islands pound, Gibraltar pound, and Saint Helena pound are set at a fixed 1:1 exchange rate with the oul' British pound by local governments.
Legal tender and national issues[edit]
The British Islands (red) and overseas territories (blue) usin' the feckin' pound or their local issue
Legal tender in the bleedin' United Kingdom is defined such that "a debtor cannot successfully be sued for non-payment if he pays into court in legal tender." Parties can alternatively settle a debt by other means with mutual consent. Chrisht Almighty. Strictly speakin', it is necessary for the oul' debtor to offer the feckin' exact amount due as there is no obligation for the other party to provide change.[95]
Throughout the oul' UK, £1 and £2 coins are legal tender for any amount, with the oul' other coins bein' legal tender only for limited amounts. Bank of England notes are legal tender for any amount in England and Wales, but not in Scotland or Northern Ireland.[95] (Bank of England 10/- and £1 notes were legal tender, as were Scottish banknotes, durin' World War II under the oul' Currency (Defence) Act 1939, which was repealed on 1 January 1946.) Channel Islands and Isle of Man banknotes are legal tender only in their respective jurisdictions.[96]
Bank of England, Scottish, Northern Irish, Channel Islands, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, and Falkland banknotes may be offered anywhere in the bleedin' UK, although there is no obligation to accept them as a means of payment, and acceptance varies. For example, merchants in England generally accept Scottish and Northern Irish bills, but some unfamiliar with them may reject them.[97] However, Scottish and Northern Irish bills both tend to be accepted in Scotland and Northern Ireland, respectively. Merchants in England generally do not accept Jersey, Guernsey, Isle of Man, Gibraltar, and Falkland notes but Isle of Man notes are generally accepted in Northern Ireland.[98] Bank of England notes are generally accepted in the feckin' Falklands and Gibraltar, but for example, Scottish and Northern Irish notes are not.[99] Since all of the feckin' bills are denominated in pounds sterlin', banks will exchange them for locally issued bills at face value,[100][failed verification] though some in the bleedin' UK have had trouble exchangin' Falkland Islands pounds.[101]
Commemorative £5 and 25p (crown) coins, and 6p coins made for traditional weddin' ceremonies and Christmas gifts, rarely seen in circulation, are legal tender, as are the oul' bullion coins issued by the feckin' Mint.
Maximum usable as legal tender[102]
£100 (produced from 2015)[95] unlimited
£20 (produced from 2013) unlimited
£5 (post-1990 crown) unlimited
£2 unlimited
50p £10
25p (pre-1990 crown) £10
10p £5
5p £5
2p 20p
Value[edit]
In 2006, the oul' House of Commons Library published a holy research paper which included an index of prices in pounds for each year between 1750 and 2005, where 1974 was indexed at 100.[103]
Regardin' the oul' period 1750–1914 the oul' document states: "Although there was considerable year on year fluctuation in price levels prior to 1914 (reflectin' the feckin' quality of the feckin' harvest, wars, etc.) there was not the long-term steady increase in prices associated with the bleedin' period since 1945", so it is. It goes on to say that "Since 1945 prices have risen in every year with an aggregate rise of over 27 times".
The value of the oul' index in 1751 was 5.1, increasin' to an oul' peak of 16.3 in 1813 before declinin' very soon after the feckin' end of the oul' Napoleonic Wars to around 10.0 and remainin' in the bleedin' range 8.5–10.0 at the bleedin' end of the oul' 19th century. The index was 9.8 in 1914 and peaked at 25.3 in 1920, before declinin' to 15.8 in 1933 and 1934—prices were only about three times as high as they had been 180 years earlier.[104]
Inflation has had a bleedin' dramatic effect durin' and after World War II: the oul' index was 20.2 in 1940, 33.0 in 1950, 49.1 in 1960, 73.1 in 1970, 263.7 in 1980, 497.5 in 1990, 671.8 in 2000 and 757.3 in 2005.
The followin' table shows the bleedin' equivalent amount of goods and services that, in a particular year, could be purchased with £1.[105]
The table shows that from 1971 to 2015 the bleedin' British pound lost about 92 per cent of its buyin' power.
Buyin' power of one British pound compared to 1971 GBP
Equivalent buyin' power
1971 £1.00 1981 £0.271 1991 £0.152 2001 £0.117 2011 £0.0900
1972 £0.935 1982 £0.250 1992 £0.146 2002 £0.115 2012 £0.0850
1977 £0.439 1987 £0.199 1997 £0.123 2007 £0.0980 2017 £0.0744
1979 £0.358 1989 £0.176 1999 £0.123 2009 £0.0952
The smallest coin in 1971 was the feckin' ​1⁄2p, worth about 6.4p in 2015 prices.
Exchange rate[edit]
The pound is freely bought and sold on the oul' foreign exchange markets around the bleedin' world, and its value relative to other currencies therefore fluctuates.[c]
Current GBP exchange rates
From Google Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR HKD JPY USD INR
From Yahoo! Finance: AUD CAD CHF EUR HKD JPY USD INR
From XE.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR HKD JPY USD INR
From OANDA: AUD CAD CHF EUR HKD JPY USD INR
From fxtop.com: AUD CAD CHF EUR HKD JPY USD INR
Reserve[edit]
Sterlin' is used as a bleedin' reserve currency around the world and is currently ranked fourth in value held as reserves.
Currency composition of official foreign exchange reserves (1965–2019)
US dollar 60.89% 61.74% 62.72% 65.36% 65.73% 65.14% 61.24% 61.47% 62.59% 62.14% 62.05% 63.77% 63.87% 65.04% 66.51% 65.51% 65.45% 66.50% 71.51% 71.13% 58.96% 47.14% 56.66% 57.88% 84.61% 84.85% 72.93%
Euro (until 1999 - ECU) 20.54% 20.67% 20.16% 19.13% 19.14% 21.20% 24.20% 24.05% 24.40% 25.71% 27.66% 26.21% 26.14% 24.99% 23.89% 24.68% 25.03% 23.65% 19.18% 18.29% 8.53% 11.64% 14.00% 17.46%
Deutsche mark 15.75% 19.83% 13.74% 12.92% 6.62% 1.94% 0.17%
Japanese yen 5.70% 5.20% 4.89% 3.95% 3.75% 3.54% 3.82% 4.09% 3.61% 3.66% 2.90% 3.47% 3.18% 3.46% 3.96% 4.28% 4.42% 4.94% 5.04% 6.06% 6.77% 9.40% 8.69% 3.93% 0.61%
Pound sterlin' 4.62% 4.42% 4.54% 4.34% 4.71% 3.70% 3.98% 4.04% 3.83% 3.94% 4.25% 4.22% 4.82% 4.52% 3.75% 3.49% 2.86% 2.92% 2.70% 2.75% 2.11% 2.39% 2.03% 2.40% 3.42% 11.36% 25.76%
French franc 2.35% 2.71% 0.58% 0.97% 1.16% 0.73% 1.11%
Chinese renminbi 1.96% 1.89% 1.23% 1.07%
Canadian dollar 1.88% 1.84% 2.02% 1.94% 1.77% 1.75% 1.83% 1.42%
Australian dollar 1.69% 1.62% 1.80% 1.69% 1.77% 1.59% 1.82% 1.46%
Swiss franc 0.15% 0.14% 0.18% 0.16% 0.27% 0.24% 0.27% 0.21% 0.08% 0.13% 0.12% 0.14% 0.16% 0.17% 0.15% 0.17% 0.23% 0.41% 0.25% 0.27% 0.33% 0.84% 1.40% 2.25% 1.34% 0.61%
Dutch guilder 0.32% 1.15% 0.78% 0.89% 0.66% 0.08%
Other currencies 2.56% 2.47% 2.50% 2.37% 2.86% 2.83% 2.84% 3.26% 5.49% 4.43% 3.04% 2.20% 1.83% 1.81% 1.74% 1.87% 2.01% 1.58% 1.31% 1.49% 4.87% 4.89% 2.13% 1.29% 1.58% 0.43% 0.03%
Source: World Currency Composition of Official Foreign Exchange Reserves International Monetary Fund
List of British currencies
List of currencies in Europe
List of the largest tradin' partners of United Kingdom
^ a b Scotland and Northern Ireland only
^ Alongside the New Zealand Dollar and US Dollar[2]
^ For historic exchange rates with the bleedin' pound, see OandA.com Currency Converter
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^ "The Interest Burden of Inter-Government Debts". The Economic World. 110: 342. Listen up now to this fierce wan. 2 September 1922.
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^ Hansard Parliamentary Papers, HC Deb, 5 April 1853, vol 125, cc595–96
^ Hansard Parliamentary Papers, HC Deb, 9 June 1853, vol 127, cc1352–59
^ Hansard Parliamentary Papers, HC Deb, 12 June 1855, vol 138, cc1867–909
^ Hansard Parliamentary Papers, HC Deb, 23 July 1857, vol 147, cc304–29
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^ Howard M. Would ye swally this in a minute now?Berlin, The Coins and Banknotes of Palestine Under the British Mandate, 1927–1947 (Jefferson: McFarland, 2001) p. Jesus, Mary and holy Saint Joseph. 26f
^ Hansard Parliamentary Papers, HL, Deb 10 March 1966, vol 273, cc1211–16
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Further readin'[edit]
"Bank of England Banknotes FAQ", would ye swally that? Retrieved 7 May 2006.
The Perspective of the oul' World, Vol III of Civilisation and Capitalism, Fernand Braudel, 1984 ISBN 1-84212-289-4 (in French 1979).
A Retrospective on the oul' Bretton Woods System : Lessons for International Monetary Reform (National Bureau of Economic Research Project Report) By Barry Eichengreen (Editor), Michael D. I hope yiz are all ears now. Bordo (Editor) Published by University of Chicago Press (1993) ISBN 0-226-06587-1
The political pound: British investment overseas and exchange controls past—and future? By John Brennan Published By Henderson Administration (1983) ISBN 0-9508735-0-0
Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 by Milton Friedman, Anna Jacobson Schwartz Published by Princeton University Press (1971) ISBN 0-691-00354-8
The international role of the feckin' pound sterlin': Its benefits and costs to the United Kingdom By John Kevin Green
The Financial System in Nineteenth-Century Britain (The Victorian Archives Series), By Mary Poovey Published by Oxford University Press (2002) ISBN 0-19-515057-0
Rethinkin' our Centralised Monetary System: The Case for a System of Local Currencies By Lewis D. Solomon Published by Praeger Publishers (1996) ISBN 0-275-95376-9
Politics and the oul' Pound: The Conservatives' Struggle With Sterlin' by Philip Stephens Trans-Atlantic Publications (1995) ISBN 0-333-63296-6
The European Monetary System: Developments and Perspectives (Occasional Paper, No, begorrah. 73) by Horst Ungerer, Jouko J. Hauvonen Published by International Monetary Fund (1990) ISBN 1-55775-172-2
The floatin' pound sterlin' of the oul' nineteen-thirties: An exploratory study By J. Right so. K Whitaker Dept. Would ye believe this shite?of the Treasury (1986)
World Currency Monitor Annual, 1976–1989: Pound Sterlin' : The Value of the British Pound Sterlin' in Foreign Terms Published by Mecklermedia (1990) ISBN 0-88736-543-4
Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.), to be sure. Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
Pick, Albert (1994). Here's a quare one for ye. Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Jesus, Mary and Joseph. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.
Pick, Albert (1990). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: Specialized Issues. Whisht now and listen to this wan. Colin R, bejaysus. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (6th ed.). Arra' would ye listen to this. Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-149-8.
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