GBP - What currency? To which country does it relate?

Each state has its own short currency designations. In Russia it is RUB, in America it is USD, in Europe - EUR. Surely many have repeatedly heard the abbreviation of the monetary unit - GBP. What kind of currency has such a reduction, what country does it belong to and what is its market rate today? In this article, we will analyze this interesting question in all its details. And also learn a little about the history of origin and little-known facts about the GBP. Which country's currency, or rather countries, is hidden under this designation and why is it so named? Let's understand!

GBP: whose currency?

This abbreviation stands for Great Britain Pound. From here it is easy to understand that this currency is the national currency of Great Britain. More usual for us name - "pound sterling" or pound sterling. Often, you can also hear cuts like "pound" or "English pound." So, we have clarified the main question concerning the GBP - what kind of currency and which state belongs to. It turned out that it operates on the territory of the whole kingdom - Great Britain. This means that GBP is drawn not only in England, but also in other countries of the united kingdom - in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In these territories it is the official monetary unit.

However, this is not all that can be said about the GBP. Which currency is parallel to the lands of Jersey, Guernsey and Man Island, owned by the Kingdom of Great Britain? That's right, pound sterling. GBP is also a legitimate means of payment for the Falkland Islands, St. Helena, Gibraltar, Tristan da Cunha and the Ascension. Thus, the territory "covered" by the British pound is significantly expanding. And what is its origin and why is it exactly "pound" - a term also known as a unit of mass measurement? Now find out.

History of origin GBP

As it often happens, there are several versions of the appearance of the generally accepted name today "pound sterling". Consider the most believable and popular ones.

First version

Walter Pinchebeck's theory is quite widespread. She says the following: originally the monetary unit of Great Britain was called Easterling Silver, which can be deciphered as "silver from the east / east lands." Its alloys of the 925-th test were used in Northern Germany for making coins. But what does England have to do with it?

The fact that the English called this area Easterling (5 cities, in the 11th century included in the Hanseatic League) and led with it an active trade. Naturally, the sold goods were paid with these coins. In 1158, Henry II made the alloy of the 925th test standard for coins of England. Gradually, the name used in everyday speech was reduced to Sterling Silver and simply Sterling. Since 1964, it was finally entrenched in the national currency of England, and the state bank began issuing the same banknotes.

Version two

There is one more version about the origin of the GBP. What kind of currency has become its "progenitor," according to another theory? According to some sources, in the Ancient England silver coins were used, which in the amount of 240 pieces weighed exactly 1 Tower of Pound (this is approximately 350 grams). On the basis of this criterion, the weight of coins and their authenticity / degree of deterioration were checked. If such an amount of silver had a weight less than one pound, they were considered to be false. Proceeding from this there was an expression, which later became widespread - "pound of pure silver" or "pound sterling" ("sterling" from Old English - "silver").

In modern Britain, the abbreviated name pound is most often used, which means "pound". In official documents the full name is written - "pound sterling", in the exchange trade for the monetary unit of Britain the word "sterling" was fixed.

Issue and circulation of GBP

The national currency of Great Britain is issued not only in England, but also in other countries of the kingdom. Banknotes denominated in pounds sterling have the right to issue also the banks of Scotland and Northern Ireland. At the same time they participate in the commodity-money turnover throughout the UK. For example, Scottish pounds sterling can be accepted in payment in England, and Irish - in Scotland, etc.

However, this does not mean that they are a legitimate means of payment, even in the issuing countries themselves. In strict sense, only banknotes issued by the Bank of England (on the territory of England and Wales) are regarded as legal means of payment, in connection with which in practice there are cases of refusal to accept Scottish or Irish pounds.

It is also interesting that the overseas territories of Britain and its crown lands also issue their own banknotes in their monetary units, which are equal to the pound sterling and bear similar names (Gibraltar, Manx, Jersey pound, etc.).

GBP and currencies of other countries

The British pound sterling is one of the most expensive monetary units in the world foreign exchange market. As of April 30, 2014, one British pound was worth 60 rubles 12 kopecks. Over the year, its value has increased by more than ten rubles (which is a fairly significant change). The average purchase rate of GBP in exchange offices is 59 rubles 22 kopecks, sales - 61 rubles 41 kopecks.

Currency traders, as well as those who sell / buy dollars for pounds sterling (and vice versa), will also be interested in GBP / USD exchange rates . As of April 30, this ratio for the CBR was 1.68. In relation to the dollar, the British pound also increased significantly over the year. In April 2013, the rate was approximately 1 to 1.55. And what is the situation with the pair GBP / EUR? At the moment, the rate of "pound sterling / euro" is approximately 1.22. A year ago, this ratio was lower - at 1.19, and last month was 1.20 euros for one British pound.

Thus, lately one can speak about a clear and constant tendency of growth and strengthening of the rate of the British pound against the currencies of other countries, in particular, to the US dollar, euro and ruble.

Conclusion

In this article we found out a lot of interesting and useful information about the GBP: what kind of currency and what countries belongs to, what is the history of its origin and what are the modern rules for its release / turnover. In addition, we examined some of the most interesting GBP for us in the world foreign exchange market, and also compared the current values with those that occurred a year ago. We hope that this information was new for you and allowed you to expand your knowledge of the English pound.