The pound enjoying the element of uncertainty on brexit. A small history lesson:
The oldest currency still in existence is the pound sterling (£). It dates back to Anglo Saxon England (and probably originated with King Offa of Mercia).
The actual denominations of the original pound came from the European court of Charlemagne in the early 9th century AD. He created the Livres and while the names were changed the system wasn't so you get 4 farthings = 1 penny, 12 pence = 1 shilling, 20 shillings = 1 pound. This meant there were 240 pence in a pound and one pound (at the time) was worth a pound (weight) of silver.
The other nations of Britain have had a more chequered past with coinage and currency. Wales was never a unified nation (prior to conquest) and so the principalities varied wildly in their attitudes to money. In the 10th century a Welsh prince called Hywel Dda struck coins but they are very much the exception to the rule, it was far more common that cattle were currency. This is not uncommon in agricultural societies and cows are still legal tender in Swaziland.
Scotland had a number of currencies, a personal favourite being the Unicorn, but eventually a Scottish pound was created in the 12th century. It was meant to have the same value as the English one but it steadily devalued, at the time of unification in 1707, 12 Scottish Pounds were worth one English one.
The accounting practices of Charlemagne were used for more than a thousand years but the pound was eventually decimilised on 15 February 1971, however the term "new pound" hung around until 1981.
Thought you would enjoy this.
"For gold conjures up a mist about a man, more destructive of all his old senses and lulling to his feelings than the fumes of charcoal."
Charles Dickens, Nicholas Nickleby
