BRITISH MONEY

British currency has both coins and banknotes.

PENNY- PENCE – (abbreviated as) p

Current coins are: 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, 2 pounds

SYMBOLS:

• A penny pictured the portcullis (Fallgatter) of Westminster Palace.

• The two pence coin pictured the Prince of Wales feathers.

• The five pence coin pictured the thistle (a Scottish symbol).

• The ten pence coin pictured a lion, which is wearing the crown of the Monarch.

• The twenty pence coin pictured the Tudor Rose. The rose is the national flower of England.

• The fifty pence coin could have many different designs, as quite often commemorative coins (Gedenkmünzen) were produced. The current coin in circulation shows part of the royal shield.

• Pound coins showed symbols depicting things like a leek (Lauch), of all things, for Wales, a thistle for Scotland, an oak tree for England.

• The two pound coin bears a concentric design symbolically representing technological development from the Iron Age, through the Industrial Revolution and the Electronic Age to the Internet

POUNDS – (sign for pound is) £

Current bank notes (paper money) are: the 5 pound note, the 10 pound note, the 20 pound note and the 50 pound note

Scotland even has a £100 note.

The British Pound Sterling:

The pound sterling, strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling (silver), now the pound, which is the currency of the United Kingdom (UK). The currency sign (symbol) is the pound sign, originally ₤ with two cross-bars, then later more commonly £ with a single cross-bar. (or rarely just "L")Both symbols derive from libra (librum), the Latin word for "pound".

The standard currency code is:

GBP = Great British Pound (the sign for the pound is) £

The Pound (sterling) is one of the world’s most widely traded currencies along with the United States Dollar, the Japanese Yen and the Euro.

The Pound (£) is used in the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland).

The British do not use the Euro. Although a few of the big shops will accept Euro, it is rarely used across Britain. In 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence.

The pound (£) is made up of 100 pence (p) exactly like the dollar is split into 100 cents

The singular of pence is "penny". The symbol for the penny is "p"; hence coins are often pronounced "pee" rather than "penny" or "pence.

Coins come in the following denominations (Bezeichnungen):

One pence (a penny) or (one pee)· Two pence (two pee) · Five pence (five pee) · Ten pence (ten pee) · Twenty pence (twenty pee) · Fifty pence (fifty pee) · One pound (a quid) · Two pounds (two quid).

Writing and saying amounts of money

When we write amounts of money in figures, the pound symbol £ is always shown in front of the figures.

For example: 'three hundred pounds' --- > '£300'.

If an amount of money consists only of pence, we put the letter 'p' after the figures.

For example: 20p is often pronounced "twenty pee" rather than "twenty pence". The singular of pence is "penny".

If an amount of money consists of both pounds and pence, we write the pound symbol and separate the pounds and the pence with a full stop. We do not write 'p' after the pence.

For example: 'six pounds fifty pence' --- > '£6.50'. When saying aloud an amount of money that consists of pounds and pence, we do not usually say the word 'pence'. For example: '£6.50' -- > 'six pounds fifty'.

Note also that we say 2 pounds, 5 pounds, 10 pounds, etc. for amounts of money and 2 pound coin, 5 pound note, 10 pound note, etc. for a piece of money (coins and notes).

Terms for British Money

The slang term for a pound or a number of pounds sterling is 'quid' or 'nicker' and there are other slang terms for various amounts of money. The slang money expression 'quid' seems first to have appeared in late 1600's England, probably derived from the Latin 'quid pro quo' - 'something exchanged for something else'. The term 'nicker' is probably connected to the use of nickel in the minting (das Prägen) of coins.

SLANG TERMS	AMOUNT
nicker or quid	£1
lady	£5 (fiver).  [cockney* rhyming slang = Lady Godiva]* cockney = Einwohner des Londoner Bezirks Eastend
tenner	£10 [Also known as a Paul McKenna (famous hypnotist)
score	£20 [cockney rhyming slang = apple core] “Apfelkern”
pony	£25
half a ton	£50
ton	£100
monkey	£500
grand	£1000
folding stuff	In general, all paper money

*Lady Godiva ist Gegenstand einer Legende, die seit dem 13. Jahrhundert belegt ist: Das Volk litt unter der Steuerlast, für die ihr Ehemann verantwortlich war. Lady Godiva ertrug es nicht, die Menschen leiden zu sehen. Sie bemühte sich, ihren Mann dazu zu überreden, die Steuerlast zu senken. Er erwiderte, er würde die Steuern erst senken, wenn sie nackt durch die Stadt reitet. Denn Leofric rechnete nicht damit, dass seine Frau tatsächlich den Mut aufbringen würde, ohne Bekleidung durch die Stadt zu reiten, damit es dem Volk besser geht. Leofric, vom Mut seiner Frau beeindruckt, habe daraufhin alle Steuern erlassen, außer jene auf Pferde.

Seit 1678 wurde der Ritt der Lady Godiva in Coventry durch eine Prozession gefeiert. Im 17. Jahrhundert wurde die Geschichte weiter ausgeschmückt: Nur ein einziger Bürger (Peeping Tom) wagte es, zuzuschauen, und erblindete daraufhin.