British Pound Sterling: The History of Appearance

The British pound sterling is a monetary unit equal to 100 pence. The symbol is the letter "£" (from the Latin word "libra"). The international banking code is GBP.
The British pound is one of the oldest world currencies. For the first time the mention of it is noted on British territory since one thousand sixty-sixth year. In 1158, the sterling was appointed King Henry as the national currency.
The pound began to be called in the second half of the 12th century, in honor of the British weight measure. The name "sterling" appeared from the Old English "stiere", which literally means "asterisk". Indeed, the first coins depicted symbols resembling stars. Since 1964 began to produce British pounds in paper bills.

Today, banks in different territories of Great Britain issue paper money with their design, which must be accepted throughout the country. But in reality this condition often does not work.

The UK has not switched to the general European currency, which is the euro, leaving the traditional for its country. The British pound is one of the most valuable world currencies.

Today there are face values of 50, 20, 10 and 5 pounds. On one side of the banknote is depicted the British Queen Elizabeth II, and on the other - various outstanding personalities of the country. In English, the word "pound" is used to refer to the national currency; in the official documentation, however, they use the full name, in order not to confuse it with the same currencies of other states.

The first paper banknotes of Britain were receipts, which gave people money for the gold deposited with them. It was more convenient than always wearing metal products in your pocket. So, paper money became an alternative to gold.
Soon, the jewelers noticed that some citizens were returning to return the jewelry that had been deposited. Then they decided to increase the amount of paper money, so that, with precious metals stored, they thought that no one would notice their deception. It was the beginning of the first banking operations. Money changers gave people loans, and they used a certain percentage for their use. At the same time, loans issued were significantly larger than the amount of assets that they deposited. This deception did not last long. In 1100, Henry I deprived bankers of the right to create paper money and himself developed a monetary system that existed for 726 years. Its essence consisted in the introduction of polished wooden bars with notches on one side as a monetary unit. Such sticks were split along, so that the notches were retained on two halves and put into circulation. And one part was kept by the king as evidence of authenticity.

The history of the coin in one British pound does not begin with 1983, when it was first released with this par value. This happened much earlier. For the first time a coin in one British pound was minted back in 1489. On the one hand, Henry VII, seated on the throne, was depicted on it, and on the other, a rose with the state emblem. It has become the most reliable world monetary unit, this remains to this day. The name was finally fixed by the monetary unit since the Bank of England issued banknotes.