The currency of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, as well as many of its overseas territories, for example Gibraltar and a number of islands such as the Falklands. Subdivided into 100 pence, the pound sterling (ala GBP) is the oldest currency still in continuous use.
How Did the Pound Originate?
There are three main hypotheses. Perhaps the most obvious connects the name "pound sterling" to the weight of one pound of coins called sterlings, which were minted by Britain's early medieval kingdoms set up by the invading Saxons.
Another, proposed by the Oxford English Dictionary, points to an origin after these kingdoms were overrun by the Normans of northeastern France who invaded Britain in 1066 and later, in 1300, issued a silver penny on the obverse of which were engraved small stars - steorling in Old English
The third, from English historian Walter Pinchbek, harks back to trade in 12th-century Britain with northern Germany, for which coins used to pay for goods made from a special silver alloy “Easterling silver”, meaning from the eastern lands”, and due to Britain's coinage being debased, merchants asked to be paid in pounds of Esterling silver - contracted to sterling silver (as of 1158, by the way, all money started to be minted from this alloy).
Some Interesting Facts
- In the days before switching to decimal calculus in 1971, one pound was equal to 20 shillings or 240 pence.
- The symbol for the pound, £, derives from medieval documents wirtten in Latin, in which the letter L (
) was the abbreviation for libra, the basic Roman unit of weight, taken (incorrectly) as equivalent in weight to a latter-day pound.
- Initially the GBP was minted from the highest grade silver alloy. But due to the fact that silver is a very soft and pliable metal, - and short-lived when in constant circulation - governments eventually started minting coins from gold;
- Under the Bretton Woods Agreement of 1944, one pound sterling began to be equated to 4.03 US dollars, and the Bretton Woods system remained in effect until 1971.
- One of the most memorable moments in the history of the pound sterling is the so-called "Black Wednesday" of September 16, 1992, rooted in its 1990 linkage to the European Union's exchange rate regulation system. Economic factors led to a collapse in the GBP and withdrawal from the EU system, and by shorting the currency, US investor George Soros was able to earn about one billion US dollars and became notorious for "breaking the Bank of England."
- You can use the pound sterling at many respected and trusted online casinos.
- The first paper pound banknotes were issued in 1694 by the Bank of England, the same year when the national currency received its current name.
The Pound Sterling on the World Market
The the National Bank of England is Britain's central bank and guarantor of the GBP's stability and monopoly, both in the domestic and global financial markets. It has long occupied a strong place; is considered to be a stable reserve currency; and is in fact is the fourth most internationally traded, after the US dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen (before the euro, it was number two). Even global financial crises have not affected the value of this currency. However, after the Brexit vote in 2016 the pound slumped to a 31-year low, and though it's since recovered somewhat, in 2020 it's been under more downward pressure due to A. uncertainty over the negotiations over the UK's new trade arrangements with the European Union, slated to come into effect at the end of this year after a transition period, and B. the economic impact of the coronavirus. As of this writing, £1 is trading at 1.13 euros and 1.24 USD. What will the future hold? We can only wait and see.
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