The modern currency of Great Britain is considered to be one of the oldest on earth. She is over 1200 years old. The pound sterling began its history around 775, when sterling began to circulate on the territory of the English kingdoms, which were full-fledged silver coins. If such coins were collected with a total weight of about 350 grams, then the Englishman had a pound sterling in his hands (about 240 coins).
Thus, the main currency of the UK - the pound sterling, from the very beginning did not exist as a separate monetary unit (coin). It was a collection of smaller denominations. An interesting feature of the emerging monetary system was that when issuing coins of fractional denomination for many centuries there was no decimal system. For example, in the 12th century, the shilling was introduced, which was one-twentieth of a pound. A shilling, in turn, consisted of twelve pence. In different periods of time, both silver and gold coins were issued - a guinea (21 shillings) and a sovereign (20 shillings).
Currency in the UK with thisa specific division existed until the early 70s of the 20th century (1971). She was willingly accepted in international settlements, because. Great Britain until the beginning of the 20th century was a stable power and had a good economy.
Some don't know what the currency is in the UK today because there is a misconception that England, as a European country, has entered the euro area. But it's not. The British government and people refused to join the eurozone and kept their "ancient" pound sterling. Over hundreds of years, it has, of course, depreciated and is no longer tied to gold or silver. But it is still among the reserve currencies, although it has been losing to the US dollar in the last hundred years.
The modern currency of Great Britain is represented by banknotes - pounds sterling, which have a denomination of five, ten, twenty and 50 pounds. One pound is equal to 100 pence (penny is singular). Pence is issued in denominations of fifty to one penny (as well as denominations of 20, 10, 5, and 2). In addition, there are one and two pounds sterling in the form of coins.
On all banknotes of the English currency, there is a mandatory portrait of the Queen and a security system in the form of watermarks, metal stripes, etc. English paper money, unlike American dollars, is issued in different sizes. For example, a 5-pound note is 13.5 cm long and 7 cm wide, while a 20-pound note is 15 and 8 cm, respectively. It is believed that the latter reduces the number of fraudulent transactions withcash.
The UK currency is the third most important in the global financial system after the US dollar and the euro. It makes up about 50% of the daily turnover on the London Currency Exchange and 14% of the global financial turnover. It is believed that the pound sterling exchange rate is sensitive to the news background according to inflation data in England, as well as to oil prices. The currency is freely convertible and, if desired, you can freely buy it in many branches of Russian banks.
