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Pound is the name of various units of currency. It is used in some countries today and previously was used in many others. 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' () (from libra), crossed to indicate abbreviation.[3]

Countries where a unit of the national currency is "pound" (dark blue) or "lira" (light blue).

The term was adopted in England from the weight[a] of silver used to make 240 pennies,[6] and eventually spread to British colonies all over the world. While silver pennies were produced seven centuries earlier, the first pound coin was minted under Henry VII in 1489.[5]

Countries and territories currently using currency units named "pound"

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Country/territory Currency ISO 4217 code Tied to sterling?
  Egypt Egyptian pound EGP No
  Falkland Islands Falkland Islands pound FKP Yes
  Gibraltar Gibraltar pound GIP Yes
  Guernsey Guernsey pound GBP Yes
  Alderney Alderney pound GBP (informally) Yes
  Isle of Man Manx pound GBP Yes
  Jersey Jersey pound GBP Yes
  Lebanon Lebanese pound LBP No
  Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Saint Helena pound SHP Yes
  South Sudan South Sudanese pound SSP No
  Sudan Sudanese pound SDG No
  Syria Syrian pound SYP No
  United Kingdom Sterling[b] GBP N/A
  British Antarctic Territory[8]
  British Indian Ocean Territory[9]
  South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands[10]

Historical currencies

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Currencies of the former British colonies in America

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All of the following currencies have been replaced by the US dollar.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The Pound (mass) in question was a Tower pound (5,400 grains, 349.9 grams (11.25 troy ounces), about 0.77 avoirdupois pounds, also called the 'Moneyers' Pound' (referring to the Saxon moneyers before the Conquest).[4] "In practice they" [the silver pennies] "varied considerably in weight and 240 of them seldom added up to a pound".[5]
  2. ^ The correct name for the currency is "sterling" and the "pound" is its primary unit. When necessary to distinguish sterling from other pounds, the qualified names "pound sterling" or "British pound" are used, especially in international trade contexts, where those names are used even when disambiguation is not needed.[7] This qualified form is almost never encountered in the United Kingdom, except in banking.

References

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  1. ^ Harper, Douglas. "Libra (n.)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 2 June 2022.
  2. ^ Harper, Douglas. "pound (n.1)". Online Etymology Dictionary. Archived from the original on 25 May 2022.
  3. ^ "The Origins of £sd". The Royal Mint Museum. Archived from the original on 8 March 2020.
  4. ^ "Tower pound". Sizes.com. Retrieved 17 September 2016.
  5. ^ a b Lowther, Ed (14 February 2014). "A short history of the pound". BBC News. Archived from the original on 1 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Pound sterling". Britannica. Archived from the original on 16 June 2008. Retrieved 22 July 2021. Silver coins known as "sterlings" were issued in the Saxon kingdoms, 240 of them being minted from a pound of silver... Hence, large payments came to be reckoned in "pounds of sterlings", a phrase later shortened...
  7. ^ Moles, Peter; Terry, Nicholas (1999). The Handbook of International Financial Terms. ISBN 9780198294818. Sterling (UK).: The name given to the currency of the United Kingdom (cf. cable). Also called pound sterling or pounds.
  8. ^ "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: British Antarctic Territory". Archived from the original on 2003-09-02.
  9. ^ "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: British Indian Ocean Territory". Archived from the original on October 16, 2007.
  10. ^ "Foreign and Commonwealth Office country profiles: South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands". 19 February 2024.