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The British parliament passed several currency acts to regulate the paper money issued by the colonies. The Currency Act 1751 restricted the issue of paper money in New England. It allowed the existing bills to be used as legal tender for public debts (i.e. paying taxes), but disallowed their use for private debts (e.g. for paying merchants). [10]
Sterling (ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. [3] The pound is the main unit of sterling, [4] [c] and the word pound is also used to refer to the British currency generally, [7] often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. [4]
Banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks have to be backed pound for pound by Bank of England notes (other than a small amount representing the currency in circulation in 1845), and special £1 million and £100 million notes are used for this purpose. Their design is based on the old Series A notes. [60] [95]
The United Kingdom's pound sterling was the primary reserve currency of much of the world in the 19th century and first half of the 20th century. [1] However, by the middle of the 20th century, the United States dollar had become the world's dominant reserve currency. [2] [better source needed] Worldwide use of the US dollar:
The term cable is a slang term used by foreign exchange traders to refer to the exchange rate between the pound sterling and US dollar. [1] The term originated in the mid-19th century, when the exchange rate between the US dollar and sterling began to be transmitted across the Atlantic by a submarine communications cable.
Currency quotations use the abbreviations for currencies that are prescribed by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) in standard ISO 4217.The major currencies and their designation in the foreign exchange market are the US dollar (USD), Euro (EUR), Japanese yen (JPY), British pound (GBP), Australian dollar (AUD), Canadian dollar (CAD), and the Swiss franc (CHF).
The English word "pound" derives from the Latin expression lībra pondō, in which lībra is a noun meaning 'pound' and pondō is an adverb meaning 'by weight'. [ 1 ] [ 2 ] The currency's symbol is ' £ ' , a stylised form of the blackletter 'L' ( L {\displaystyle {\mathfrak {L}}} ) (from libra ), crossed to indicate abbreviation.
Before the American Revolution, every one of the Thirteen Colonies had issued its own paper money, most often denominated in British pounds, shillings and pence. In 1776, the newly created United States issued currency which was bought by people who wanted to support the war (it was promised that the currency could be redeemed for Spanish ...