The British pound is the world's oldest currency still in use at around 1,200 years old. Dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, the pound has gone through many changes before evolving into today's currency.

Sterling silver pennies have been around since 775AD, with King Offa of Mercia generally credited with being responsible for the widespread adoption of the coins. The first fully printed banknotes were introduced in 1853. Before that, following its establishment in 1694, the Bank of England only issued partially printed notes with the ‘£’ sign as well as the first digit. The numbers had to be added by hand and each note had to be signed by one of the bank’s cashiers. Today’s banknotes developed out of these original handwritten notes.

The pound is the fourth most traded currency in the foreign exchange market, after the US dollar, the euro and the Japanese yen. Each banknote (£5, £10, £20, £50) has its own colour and size – the greater the value, the larger the note. All coins (1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1 and £2) carry the profile of Queen Elizabeth II, facing right. Traditionally, monarchs alternate the direction they face on pound coins. The first banknote featuring the Queen’s portrait was a £1 note issued in 1960.

Until 1940, the British pound was pegged to the value of gold. However, in 1940, an agreement with the US meant that the pound sterling changed to be pegged to the US dollar, as part of the Bretton Woods system which oversaw post-war exchange rates.

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