The Great British Pound is the official currency of the United Kingdom, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man, as well as various British territories. It is the fourth most traded currency in the world, following US dollars, Euro and Japanese yen. Its ISO currency code is GBP and the currency symbol is Ā£. The official name of the currency is Pounds Sterling although Sterling is used much less frequently than pounds alone.
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Decimalisation took place in the early 1970s each individual Ā£1 is divided into 100 pennies and previous to these things were much more complicated than the current method of division.
The History of the British Pound
The pound has been a feature of British history since the time of the Anglo-Saxons. An early system was adopted where four farthings equalled one penny and twelve pennies equalled one shilling and twenty shillings equalled one pound. The system continued in the same way whilst both the Bank of England and the Bank of Scotland were founded in the 17th century and both banks also began to issue paper banknotes and this money was continued as Great Britain was founded in 1707 and then the United Kingdom in 1801.
Until the late 1960s the United Kingdom continued to use pounds, shillings and pence, using the symbols Ā£, s and d. Coins in circulation included the halfpenny, the tuppence (2p), the thruppāny bit (3p), the tanner (6p), the colloquially named ābobā 1/-), and āflorinā (2/-), the half crown (2/6), the crown (5/-), the half sovereign (10/-) and the sovereign (Ā£1).
There was a huge amount of public disapproval when decimalisation was brought in but it soon become normal. The new pound was divided into 100 pennies and the coins minted were initially the 50p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p and 1/2p coins. The old money was slowly phased out over the next ten years and coins began to be taken out of circulation with the halfpenny withdrawn in 1969, shillings and florins withdrawn in the early 1990s and new smaller versions of 10ps and 5ps introduced.
The coins in circulation were significantly changed in 2008 and they were all redesigned and the six coins less than Ā£1 in value were all positioned in a certain way and when put together they make a shield which is found in the design of the Ā£1.
British Pound Conversion Rates
Today Ā£1 is worth approximately $1.41 and $1 is worth approximately Ā£0.70.
The British pound is the worldās second most popular currency when it comes to online casinos and it is used in almost every casino with the option to play in GBP as well as fund your account in the same currency. Almost all online casinos have the option of playing in GBP and you can top up your account using your regular debit or credit card.