Sterling

more...

Home
Antiquities
Architectural & Garden
Asian Antiques
Books, Manuscripts
Decorative Arts
Ethnographic
Furniture
Maps, Atlases, Globes
Maritime
Musical Instruments
Other Antiques
Primitives
Rugs, Carpets
Science & Medicine
Silver
Coin Silver
Silverplate
Sterling
Bowls
Boxes
Candlesticks, Candelabra
Cups, Goblets
Dishes
Flatware
Alvin
Dominick & Haff
Durgin
Georg Jensen
Gorham, Whiting
International/1847 Rogers
Kirk
Lunt
Manchester
Oneida/Wm. A. Rogers
Other Brands
Reed & Barton
Royal Crest, Castle
Stieff
Tiffany
Towle
Unknown
Wallace
Watson
Westmorland
Miniatures
Napkin Rings, Clips
Other Sterling
Pitchers, Vases, Jugs
Platters, Trays
Salt Cellars, S&P Shakers
Souvenir spoons
Sugar Bowls, Tongs
Teapots & Sets
Vases, Urns
Textiles, Linens

The pound sterling (symbol: £; ISO code: GBP), subdivided into 100 pence (singular: penny), is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependencies (the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands) and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, British Antarctic Territory and British Indian Ocean Territory.

This article covers the history of sterling and the issues of sterling in England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom. For other associated issues see Manx pound, Jersey pound and Guernsey pound. The Gibraltar pound, Falkland Islands pound and Saint Helenian pound are separate currencies, pegged to the pound sterling.

Sterling currently makes up the third-largest portion of global currency reserves, after the US dollar and the euro. The pound sterling is the fourth-most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market after the US dollar, the euro, and the Japanese yen.

Name

The full, official name pound sterling (plural: pounds sterling) is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the currency used within the United Kingdom from others that have the same name. Otherwise the term pound is normally used. The currency name is sometimes abbreviated to just \"sterling\", particularly in the wholesale financial markets, but not in amounts; so \"payment accepted in sterling\" but never \"that costs five sterling\". The abbreviations \"ster.\" or \"stg.\" are sometimes used. The term British pound is commonly used in less formal contexts, although it is not an official name of the currency. A common slang term is quid (plural quid).

The term sterling is derived from the fact that, about the year of 775, silver coins known as “sterlings” were issued in the Saxon kingdoms, 240 of them being minted from a pound of silver, the weight of which was probably about equal to the later troy pound. Because of this, large payments came to be reckoned in \"pounds of sterlings,\" a phrase that was later shortened to \"pounds sterling.\" After the Norman Conquest, the pound was divided for simplicity of accounting into 20 shillings and into 240 pennies, or pence. For a discussion of the etymology of \"sterling\" see Sterling silver.

Read more at Wikipedia.org