Pound

^{Perhaps you were looking for the system of measurement?}

The pound is a unit of currency formerly in use in many British Commonwealth countries, but now only surviving in a few, including the United Kingdom, where it is known officially as the pound sterling.

The pound was divided into twenty shillings, which were themselves divided into twelve pence (pennies). The were also half pennies (ha'pennies, pronounced hay-p'nee) and quarter pennies, the latter known as farthings. Although Britain retained the pound, it is now a decimal currency comprising 100 new pence.

The symbol of the pound is £. Prices expressed in pounds, shillings, and pence were typically written in the form, for example, £2 6s 4d, which was two pounds, six shillings, and fourpence; £5.0.0 which was five pounds and no shillings; 16/9, which was sixteen shillings and ninepence; and 10/-, which was ten shillings and no pence.

The pound is by far the oldest currency in the world still in existence, having been popularised by King Offa of Mercia, ruler of England, around the year 790 AD. The term 'pound' referred to the fact that it was a pound in weight of silver. Since that time the pound has remained remarkably stable, but over the centuries a certain amount of inflation has occurred, to the effect that a pound in 790 AD would have the buying power of about 38 pounds today. This compares very favourably with other world currencies such as the German Mark which underwent billion-fold inflation in a space of just a few years in the 1920s and had to be scrapped altogether.

Today, the pound remains the third most important currency in the world in terms of international reserves, after the U.S. Dollar and the Euro, and ahead of the Yen.

As at the end of 2006, the Pound Sterling was worth around US$2.