British Currencies

The British Isles has two currencies; the Pound and the Euro.

Pound Sterling
Strictly speaking this refers to basic currency unit of Sterling (based on the value of silver rather than gold). It is now know as the Pound, and is the major currency of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland. The sign for the Pound is £. Sterling was originally a name for a silver penny. which had the purchasing power of slightly less than a modern Pound. Before decimalisation, the pound was worth 240 copper pennies but the currency has been revised to structure the value to 100 pence (100p). All coins have the Monarch's head on one side but there are a number of symbols that may be used on the reverse. The coin denominations are 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, one pound and two pound coins. Banknotes in common circulation are £5 (the smallest note value), £10, £20 and more rarely £50. Higher value denominations exist but are seldom used in normal transactions. England, Wales use the same banknotes but Northern Ireland and Scotland use their own designs. All notes are legal tender in all parts of the United Kingdom and Northern Ireland.

The Euro
The Euro is the currency of 12 of the 25 nations of the European Union and these 12 form the Economic and Monetary Union (EMU). It is the result of the most significant monetary reform in Europe since the Roman Empire. It replaced the original currencies of the member countries. In the British Isles, the United Kingdom and Northern Island opted to keep their currency whilst Ireland chose to become a member of the Euro currency block (often referred to as the Euro Zone). The euro is divided into 100 cents. All euro coins have a common side showing the worth and a national reverse showing an image particular to the country it was issued in; the monarchies have a picture of their reigning monarch, other countries usually have their national symbols. All the different coins can be used in all the participating member states. For example, a euro coin bearing an image of the Spanish king is legal tender not only in Spain, but in all the other nations where the euro is in use. There are one cent, two cent, five cent, ten cent, twenty cent, fifty cent, one Euro and two Euro coins. Euro banknotes have a common design for each denomination on both sides. Notes are issued in the following amounts: 5, 10, 20, 50, 100, 200. Some higher denominations are not issued in some countries, though they are legal tender in all Euro countries.

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