See also: Book

The pound sterling (in English pound sterling ) is the monetary unit of the the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

The word sterling comes from old French esterlin , who gave old English stière (extremely, firm, inébranlable), name of the Denier S Scottish of the king David Ier of Scotland (1123 with 1153), and of the new English sum of money of the king Henri {{II}} Plantagenêt in 1180. Another interpretation of the origin of the word sterling is given by Will Lasting in its Histoire of Civilizations ; it would come from the reputation of integrity of the men of the Hanseatic League, the Easterlings (men of the east) and would describe a gold or a money “of good weight and good quality”.

The pound sterling is symbolized by £ (Sterling). the symbol of the book on an amount is noted before this amount and not afterwards as one would make in France with the Euro. One will thus write £ 7.50 and not 7.50 £.

Subdivisions

According to the model delivers/penny/sum of money inherited the Carolingian time, the pound sterling was historically divided into 20 Shilling S and a shilling was worth 12 pence (singular: a Penny). A book was thus divided into 240 pence . The abbreviation of the shilling was “/” or “ S ” (which is not the first letter of the English word, but that of the Latin word solidus ). The symbol of the penny was “ D ”, of the Latin word denarius .

The Guinea ( guinea ) is a gold coin struck of 1663 to 1813, being worth 21 shillings. Guinea, although not corresponding more to one existing currency, continued to be used usually, in particular in the trade of the racehorses, but also to express certain amounts in particular the fees of certain liberal professions, and the prices in certain smart stores. From 1813 to 1971, it was worth a book and a shilling, is 21 shillings or 252 old pence. From 1971 to our days, it is worth 105 (new) pence.

Since February 15th 1971 ( d-day ) and the adoption of the decimal system, the shilling disappeared and delivers it was subdivided in 100 (new) pence . The “ p ” was adopted like symbol of new the penny to differentiate it from old.

The value of the Penny changed at the time of the passage to the decimal system. The first years which followed 1971, the penny of a new kind was often called new penny (“new penny ”). Parts of ½   p, 1  p, 2  p, 5  p, 10  p and 50  p bore the name of NEW PENCE until in 1982, date on which the inscription became ONE PENNY , TWO PENCE , FIVE PENCE and so on. The ½ penny was withdrawn from circulation.

Although the shilling theoretically disappeared in 1971, certain people continue to use it (with its value of one 20th of book, is 5 new old pence or 12 pence), in particular on accounts - checks: 6 pounds 12 shillings 5 pence , or in figures: £  6.12.5 (read on a check written at the end of 2006), which is worth approximately 6,620833 pounds sterling, rounded with £  6.62 (the term pence referring then to the old subdivision of the shilling, since if not 5 new pence would be worth exactly 1 shilling, and one would have written 6 pounds 13 shillings which are worth £  exactly; 6.65 ); this use is comparable with that of the old division of the French franc in 20 pennies, 1 penny being worth 5 centimes (use which still persisted after the First World War, since the term was reproduced on the old parts).

Slang of the pound sterling

In the familiar language, initial the p (delivery /pi: /) of penny and its plural pence is used: “ it' S 50 pence ” will be known as “ it' S 50 pee . ”

The word pound can, him, being replaced by its slang alternative quid (which is of a level of language much more familiar than pee for pence ). For example, “ it costs five pounds ”, in standard English, will become “ it costs five quid ” (but never “ it costs five quids ”). One says quid only for the integers - for example one says “ ten quid ” for ten books, but one says “ seven pounds fifty ” or quite simply “ seven fifty ” for 7,50 pounds (never “ seven quid fifty ”).

Evolution of the pound sterling

  • ''' Taking into account ''' inflation,…., of the devaluations, purchasing power of the pound sterling (source Banks of England)
  • a fast calculator of the purchasing power of the pound sterling (between 2 years different)
  • In 1926: 1 pound sterling was evaluated between 122 and 235 Francs French of the time.
  • In October 1936: the France leaving the frame of reference to the gold standard, the value of the French franc was not calculated any more compared to the value of the gold standard.
  • France and the the United Kingdom having declared the war with the Germany on September 3rd, 1939, the governments British and French signed on December 4th, 1939 the Anglo-French financial agreement: this agreement fixes, for the duration of the war and the six months after the conclusion of the peace treaty, the maintenance of official foreign exchange rate to 176,50 francs French for 1 pound sterling.
  • Note: September 9th, 1939, foreign exchange rate with the American dollar had been cold to 1 American dollar = 43,80 francs French. * the January 1960 , the value of the French franc (the New franc) was multiplied by 100; consequently, 100 (old) frank French of before the January 1960 (frankly germinal) is equal starting from this date to 1,00 FRF. From where:
    • 1 pound sterling of 1939 was worth 176,70 (old) frank French, that is to say 1,767 FRF;
    • 1 pound sterling of 1959 was worth 1 378,00 (old) frank French, that is to say 13,78 FRF.

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Be-X-old: Брытанскіфунт Simple: British pound

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