The only national currency in Great Britain is the British pound

The world community includes not so many countries, the monetary system of which has been based on emissions of the same currency for dozens of centuries. The UK occupies a leading position in the list of such powers. For more than eleven centuries, gentlemen from the Old World have kept an English pound in their purses.

History of origin of the name

Long before the territorial and administrative structure of Great Britain acquired the distinct outlines of a centralized great state, these landmarks already began to circulate on its lands. This name of the currency is not by chance. There are several options for its selection. One of them is a "weighted" version. It is believed that initially from one pound of silver minted pennies. It turned out about 240 coins. Sterling is the second name of the received metal currency. Hence the name of the currency that has come down to us.

Between pound and pence there is also an intermediate unit. It is called a shilling. It includes 12 pence. Thus, every English pound consists of 20 shillings.

Gold coins and paper denominations

Over the course of four centuries (from 14 to 18), a bimetallic system of circulation of funds operates on the territory of the country. In commodity-money relations there was a gold English pound and silver exchangeable shillings and pence. In addition to metal banknotes, in the territory of the state there were also paper currency notes in circulation. The dignity of each bank card was reinforced with gold. This continued during the war of England and France, although it was impossible to exchange bills for valuable metal. The restoration of the system of free and duty-free purchase and sale of gold coins using paper banknotes was introduced again in circulation in the twenties of the 19th century.

At the same time, a clear balance was established between the exchanged notes and the stocks of valuable metals. It means that the issue of notes should not exceed the availability of gold. This rule was violated only during the economic crisis. There were three such moments. The Great Crisis of 1847, the First World Crisis of 1857 and the Luxembourg Crisis of 1866, which deplorably affected the economy of England. To stabilize the financial situation, the country's parliament gave permission that the British pound, issued on paper, should not be properly reinforced with gold. That is, the issue of banknotes exceeded the permissible volumes.

Loss of status and current status

Up until the outbreak of the First World War, paper banknotes and gold coins were circulating in the country. In 1914, the coinage of metal banknotes was stopped, and the available in circulation were withdrawn. At the same time, in order to cope with military expenditures, the country's parliament began to issue treasury tickets. Those, in turn, were withdrawn from circulation in 1928, and the national currency, the British pound, again came into their place. Even in the aftermath of the post-war crisis, the country's government applied only one leverage to the monetary unit - the restoration of the monetary system. In turn, gold was again introduced, but not coins, but ingots. Strengthened by valuable metal paper British pounds gained power, but again failed to become the leading reserve currency of world banking operations.

At the moment, the UK is part of the European Union. Therefore, it is not surprising that the euro has circulation on the territory of the country. However, the only national currency is the British pound. To the euro, the country does not aspire to move. The UK explains this by the fact that in this step there is no benefit to the economic situation in the country. At the same time for an English pound at the exchange of funds can get about 1.2 euros.