Pound sterling

:GBP redirects here. For other uses, see GBP (disambiguation).

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:For details of notes and coins, see British coinage and British banknotes.

Related Topics:
British coinage - British banknotes

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The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, is the currency of the United Kingdom (UK).

Related Topics:
Pound - Currency - United Kingdom

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The sign for the pound is £ (or rarely just "L"). Both symbols derive from libra, the Latin word for "pound". The standard ISO 4217 currency code is GBP = Great Britain Pound.

Related Topics:
Latin - Pound - ISO 4217 currency code

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The pound sterling is one of the world's most widely traded currencies, along with the United States dollar, the Japanese yen, the Australian Dollar and the euro. It is the highest valued of the major currency units.

Related Topics:
Pound sterling - United States - Dollar - Japan - Yen - Australian Dollar - Euro - Highest valued of the major currency units

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In the UK, in order to distinguish the unit of currency from the unit of weight, and perhaps from other units of currency that have the same name, a pound is sometimes referred to more formally as a pound sterling or sometimes simply sterling. The slang term quid is also substituted in informal conversation for "pound(s) sterling". The sterling was originally a name for a silver penny of 1/240 pound. In modern times the pound has replaced the penny as the basic unit of currency as inflation has steadily eroded the value of the currency. Originally a silver penny had the purchasing power of slightly less than a modern pound.

Related Topics:
Slang - Quid - Sterling

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