The History of the Pound Sterling
The Royal Mint dates the pound to 775 as a pound of silver making 240 pennies; historians are less certain about the exact date.
Video coming soon. The lesson video will appear here once it is published on YouTube.
Check yourself: sample questions
Think about each question, pick what you would answer if you like, then select “Show answer” to see the solution and why. Nothing is graded or sent to us. Example numbers are worked examples, not predictions.
1.How did the pound begin, according to the Royal Mint?
The Royal Mint dates the pound to 775 as a pound of silver making 240 pennies; historians are less certain about the exact date.
2.What does the pound sign stand for?
It stands for libra, the Latin name of the Roman pound weight, which also means scales; nobody knows when the line through the L appeared.
3.When was the Bank of England founded and in what form?
Its paper notes were promises: bring one in and you could swap it for metal (Bank of England).
Full course: 5 more questions for this lesson
The full course unlocks all self-check questions of all 365 lessons, the daily plan, your progress and the printable learning record. Lessons 1 to 7 are completely free.
See the full course Start the free week
Already bought? Open the course on this device
Sources (6)
- The Royal Mint: The Oldest Coins Struck by The Royal Mint
- Bank of England: History (Zeitleiste)
- The Royal Mint: The Royal Mint and Decimalisation
- Bank of England Working Paper (2006): UK monetary regimes and macroeconomic stylised facts (Abschnitt
- Eigene Berechnung (Umrechnung vordezimal, Python)
- Wikipedia: Pound sign (Abschnitt Origin; zitiert Royal Mint Museum, The Origins of £sd)
Education only. Not financial advice.