English Currency

Today's post is all about English Currency.

The 1 pound doesn't come in bills- it comes in coins. This can be kind of problematic when you're trying to buy something that isn't worth much and you have to go digging through you're coin purse, but it's also pretty cool. It has different Latin sayings written on the sides- Nemo me impune lacessit and Decus et tutamen. I'm not sure if those are the only two that are printed, but of the three 1 pound coins I have, 2 had Nemo... and one had Decus...

These are the pence coins. There are 100 pence in a pound, just like our 100 cents in a dollar. From left to right you can see- 1 penny (singular of pence), 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, and 50 pence.

Here you can see the backs of the coins in the same order.

These are the 5 pound and 20 pound bills, with an American ten on top so you can compare the sizes. I didn't have a 10 pound bill, so there isn't a picture of that one.

The backs of the 5 and 20 pound bill. For those wondering, as of right now the pound is equal to $1.5898. So

Here are some more views of the coins. I put a picture of me holding the 20p coin and the 1 pound coin so you can see how big they are.

Fun fact!!! Brits will sometimes say 100 quid instead of 100 pounds, just like we often say 100 bucks instead of 100 dollars.

Fun fact!!! A farthing was an old British coin worth 1 quarter penny. They ceased being legal tender in 1960. A shilling was a coin worth 1/20 pound and equal to 12 pence. At the time, therefore, the pound was equal to 240p. In 1972 the shilling was superseded by the 5p coin and the pound became worth 100 pence.

If you are interested in learning more you can check this link and read more about British currency from the source of all knowledge- namely, Wikipedia. :)