Pound (currency)

The pound, a unit of currency, originated in Great Britain as the value of a pound mass of silver. For a long time a pound's worth of silver coins were a troy pound in mass. Today, the term may refer to a number of current (primarily British and related) currencies, and a variety of now-obsolete currencies.

Current currencies

• Pound sterling of the United Kingdom and the Crown dependencies (GBP, represented by the pound sign: "£"), issued by:

• the Bank of England for use in England and Wales;
• the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale Bank for use in Scotland;
• the Northern Bank, Ulster Bank, Bank of Ireland, and First Trust Bank for use in Northern Ireland;
• the Isle of Man Government (see Isle of Man pound);
• the States of Guernsey (see Guernsey pound);

• Alderney (commemorative issues only; see Alderney pound)

• the States of Jersey (see Jersey pound).

The issue rights of the banks in Scotland and Northern Ireland are qualified by a requirement for them to make deposits with the Bank of England on a one to one basis for the notes issued.

The pound sterling is also the currency of the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and British Indian Ocean Territory.^[1][2][3]

• There are a number of related and interchangeable currencies, at par with pound sterling, issued in some British Overseas Territories:

• Saint Helenian pound in St Helena, Ascension Island and Tristan da Cunha;
• Falkland pound in the Falkland Islands;
• Gibraltar pound in Gibraltar.

Historical currencies

• Anglo-Saxon pound (Anglo-Saxon England)
• Australian pound (until 1966, replaced by the Australian dollar) note: the Australian pound was also used in the Gilbert and Ellice Islands, Nauru, New Hebrides and Papua and New Guinea. The Australian pound was replaced in the New Hebrides in 1977 by the New Hebrides franc.
• Bahamian pound (until 1966, replaced by the Bahamian dollar)
• Bermudian pound (until 1970, replaced by the Bermudian dollar)
• Biafran pound (1968 to 1970, replaced by the Nigerian pound)
• British West African pound

• in British Cameroon replaced by the CFA franc in 1961
• in Gambia, replaced by the Gambian pound in 1968
• in Ghana, replaced by the Ghanaian pound in 1958
• in Liberia, replaced by the U.S. dollar in 1943
• in Nigeria, replaced by the Nigerian pound in 1958
• in Sierra Leone, replaced by the leone in 1964

• Canadian pound (until 1859, replaced by the Canadian dollar)
• Cypriot pound (Cyprus and Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia, until 1 January 2008, replaced by the euro)
• Fijian pound (until 1969, replaced by the Fijian dollar)
• Gambian pound (1968 to 1971, replaced by the dalasi)
• Ghanaian pound (1958 to 1965, replaced by the cedi)
• Irish pound or Punt na hÉireann (until 2002, replaced by the euro)
• Israeli pound, also known as the Israeli lira (until 1980, replaced by the sheqel)
• Jamaican pound (until 1968, replaced by the Jamaican dollar) note: the Jamaican pound was also used in Cayman Islands and Turks and Caicos Islands until 1968.
• Jordanian pound; see Palestinian pound.
• Libyan pound (until 1971, replaced by the Libyan dinar)
• Malawian pound (1964 to 1970, replaced by the Malawian kwacha)
• Maltese pound (until 1972, replaced by the Maltese lira)
• New Guinean pound
• New Zealand pound (until 1967, replaced by the New Zealand dollar) note: the New Zealand pound was also used in the Cook Islands and the Pitcairn Islands.
• Nigerian pound (1958 to 1973, replaced by the naira)
• Oceanian pound (Kiribati, Nauru, New Guinea, Solomon Islands and Tuvalu)
• Palestinian pound (replaced by the Israeli pound; also served as Jordanian pound, replaced in Jordan by the Jordanian dinar)
• Rhodesian pound (until 1970 in Rhodesia, replaced by the Rhodesian dollar; until 1964 in Nyasaland, replaced by the Malawian pound; and until 1964 in Northern Rhodesia, replaced by the Zambian pound)
• Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound
• Samoan pound (1914–1920 provisional issue by the New Zealand Government military administration. 1920–1959 by the New Zealand Government administration (Treasury notes). 1960–1963 by the Bank of Western Samoa. Replaced 1967 by the tala ($).)
• Solomon Islands pound
• Sudanese pound (until 1992 and since January 2007)
• South African pound (until 1961, replaced by South African rand) note: the South African pound was also used in Basutoland, Bechuanaland, South West Africa and Swaziland
• Southern Rhodesian pound
• Tongan pound (1921–1966 Government of Tonga Treasury notes. 1967 replaced by the pa'anga ($))
• West Indian pound (until 1949, replaced by East Caribbean dollar)
• Western Samoan pound
• Zambian pound (1964 to 1968, replaced by the Zambian kwacha)

Currencies of the former British colonies in America (replaced by the US dollar)

• Connecticut pound (Connecticut)
• Delaware pound (Delaware)
• Georgia pound (Georgia)
• Maryland pound (Maryland)
• Massachusetts pound (Massachusetts)
• New Hampshire pound (New Hampshire)
• New Jersey pound (New Jersey)
• New York pound (New York)
• North Carolina pound (North Carolina)
• Pennsylvania pound (Pennsylvania)
• Rhode Island pound (Rhode Island)
• South Carolina pound (South Carolina)
• Virginia pound (Virginia)

Other currencies called pound

• Egyptian pound
• Lebanese pound
• Sudanese pound
• Syrian pound

See also

• dinar, Arabic for "pound".
• Italian lira, based on the Italian word for "pound"
• Livre tournois – French Tours Pound
• Livre Parisis – French Paris Pound
• Roman currency, from which the pound is derived
• Pound Scots of Scotland
• Lliura mallorquina, of Mallorca, current in Spain until 1868
• British banknotes – information on the banknotes issued and used in Britain

References

1. ^ Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands
2. ^ Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: British Antarctic Territory
3. ^ Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: British Indian Ocean Territory