Currency

Just like RMB, the British pound was notborn like this. The first version of pounds was released by the Bank ofEngland. At that time, there was one kind of fraction currency (辅币)，called “shilling (先令)”. One pound equals 20 shillings, and one shilling equals 12 pence,which means one pound equals 240 pence. Can you tell me if I have 1 pound, 3shillings and 45 pence, can I buy something priced at £1.15? Even I know how todo the calculation, I really don’t want to do that. So in 1971, Englandswitched to the British Pound Sterling（英镑）, which isthe official currency used up to now.

Under this system 100 pence（便士） is equal to one pound. The symbol used for pounds is £ or issometimes shown as GBP which stands for Great Britain Pounds. The symbol usedfor pence is p. so two pound forty pence would be written as £2.40 or GBP 2.40.twenty pence would be written as 20p.

Currently the currency in use are:

Coins: 1 pence (pence is plural form ofpenny, so it should be 1 penny), 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 50 pence, onepound, 2 pounds The 1 and 2 pence are bronze, the 5, 10, 20 and 50 pence aresilver, and the 1 and 2 pound coins are gold. All coins carry the Queen’s headon the front.

The notes (纸币) startsat £5, £10, £20, and £50. You won’t often see the larger notes.

There have been several generations ofpounds. The latest version is the G-series. The £20 from this version will bereleased from Feb. 20^th, 2020.