British Pound

Traveling to a foreign country can be a very exciting experience. There is nothing like arriving in a far-away land, ready to explore the country’s unique buildings and landmarks, taste their native dishes and compare them to those of one’s home country, and meet the local people.

Although foreign travel is in general a wonderful time, there are a few things that should be considered before setting foot on the plane and taking off for a land far away.

One of the most important things to prearrange is ensuring that you have the correct currency for the country to which you are traveling and that you understand how it works in order to make your monetary interactions much less stressful. When traveling to Great Britain, you will need to be sure that you are familiar with the British pound (£).

Although the euro is the official currency of the eurozone, Great Britain has abstained from adopting the euro as its national currency, although it could do so at any time.

Instead, the pound sterling, or as it is most commonly referred to, the pound, serves as Great Britain’s official currency; hence the need for the US dollars to pounds conversion calculation. The pound is subdivided into 100 pence, or pennies.

The pound sterling is the fourth most highly traded form of currency in the foreign exchange market, following the United States’ dollar, the eurozone’s euro, and the Japanese yen.

It is believed that the name “pound sterling” dates back to Anglo-Saxon era; coins  at that time were called “sterlings” and were made of silver. 240 silver sterlings equaled approximately one pound of weight; therefore, larger payments were made in terms of pounds of sterlings.

The currency of the pound sterling is made up of coins and bank notes. Coins are commonly available in the following pence denominations: 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, and 50p. There are also coins representing £1 and £2. Special issues of coins also include £5. Bank notes include £5, £10, £20, and £50 denominations.