Great Britain Pound Story

Pound sterling banknote is one of the strong currency in the market. Recently it price has been going down (today I check the price is RM5.16 ; Ringgit to Pound) because of the economic slowdown. The full, official name, pound sterling, (plural: pounds sterling) is used mainly in formal contexts and also when it is necessary to distinguish the United Kingdom currency from other currencies with 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 when referring to specific amounts; for example, "Payment is accepted in sterling" but never "These cost 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 (singular and plural).

There is some uncertainty as to the origin of the term "pound sterling". Some sources say it dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, when coins called sterlings were minted from silver; 240 of these sterlings weighed one pound, and large payments came to be made in "pounds of sterlings". Other references, including the Oxford English Dictionary, say a sterling was a silver penny used in England by the Normans, and date the term to around 1300. For more discussion of the etymology of "sterling" see Sterling silver.

The currency sign is the pound sign, originally ₤ with two cross-bars, then later more commonly £ with a single cross-bar. The pound sign derives from the blackletter "L", an abbreviation of Librae in Roman £sd units (librae, solidi, denarii) used for pounds, shillings and pence in the British pre-decimal duodecimal currency system. Libra was the basic Roman unit of weight, derived from the Latin word for scales or balance.

The ISO 4217 currency code is GBP (Great Britain pound). Occasionally, the abbreviation UKP is used but this is incorrect. The Crown dependencies use their own (non-ISO) codes: GGP (Guernsey pound), JEP (Jersey pound) and IMP (Isle of Man pound). Stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX (sometimes GBp), when listing stock prices.

Some of Pound banknote in my collection is old 1982 £1 pound and current £10 pound. £1 poundis in green color and using Sir Isaac Newton as a historical character. It also have a watermark of Sir isaac Newton. I have been reading that a new coin pound is been used to replace this pound and I still don't have any in my possesion yet.

For me, £10 pound is one of the most beautiful banknote in this world. I love the overall design of this banknote. The banknote is using Charles Darwin as the historical character. When I try to edit the front of this banknote, I keep having a reading error that bring me to this website Banknotes & Counterfeit Deterrence. Look like this banknote is one of banknote in this world that have been using counterfit deterrence system (CDS) and it has some rules and regulation on reproduction of this banknote.

10 pound security feature:

Metallic thread - the thread is embedded in the paper in every banknote. This appears as silver dashes on the back of the £10 note. If you hold the note up to the light, the metallic thread appears as a continuous dark line.

Watermark - hold the note up to the light and you will see an image of the Queen’s portrait. This can also be viewed from the back of the note.

Hologram - there is a hologram on the foil patch on the front of the £10 note. If you tilt the note, the image will change between a brightly coloured picture of Britannia and the number ‘10’.

Source: Wikipedia, bankofengland.co.uk