The official currency used in Britain is British sterling, with the pound being the recognisable face of British sterling. Officially its full title is the British Pound Sterling and it is denoted by letters GBP, which refers to Great British Pound. It uses the symbol £.
The UK has strongly resisted joining the euro, preferring instead to use its official currency as it has done for over 1000 years. Despite the fact that the rest of Europe uses the euro, Britain is still proud to use its pound and sees it as quite a symbol of its national identity.
But what many people don't quite understand is that the British pound is not just issued by the Bank of England, there are other notes issued in Britain as well.
In a sense, this gives us a clue as to why the United Kingdom has not joined the euro. Despite the fact that it has been a unified country for hundreds years, indeed officially since 1707, it still cannot even have one standard set of banknotes issued. Scotland, Ireland and the Channel Islands all print their own money. So in the United Kingdom, you have English money, Scottish money, Northern Irish money and finally Channel Islands’ money. And each country is very proud of the money that it produces. So not only is the British pound seen as a sign of the national identity, but the Scottish notes are seen as part of the Scottish identity, Irish as part of the Irish identity and the Channel Islands feel the same way about their money.
Suddenly, it is quite clear that if each of the nations (apart from Wales) in the United Kingdom have their own money, or rather their form of the pound and they are very proud of this, then the introduction of the euro looks as if it will be but a distant dream.
Wales does not produce its own currency because at the time of the official union between Scotland and England, Wales was actually a principality within England and so although it did produce its own currency until 1908, English money was the more widely used. When the last remaining Welsh bank closed in 1908, the money remaining was just English money and the Welsh have not had their ‘own’ money since this date.
This is slightly ironic because all of the coins that are in circulation in the United Kingdom are actually produced at the Royal Mint, which is in Llantrisant a town in Wales! So even though the Welsh produce the coins, they do not have their own version of the currency. This annoys some Welsh people, who resent the fact that the Scots and the Irish can produce their own money, but the Welsh are simply treated as an offshoot of England, as they have been for many years.
Perhaps the Welsh will be key to getting the rest of the UK into the euro. After all, if they have been using coins that are English for a hundred years, then why can’t the rest of the UK follow suit and just use European coins as standard?
Issuing the currency
Scotland and Ireland are relatively unique in terms of issuing money, in the sense that there are three banks in Scotland that issue money and four in Northern Ireland.
Scottish notes
In Scotland the currency is issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Clydesdale Bank as well as the Bank of Scotland.
So, this means that you do not have a standard Scottish pound note. Instead you have three (which can be very confusing for anyone visiting and who is not used to the currency, because they all look different, just to confuse matters).
The notes are issued in standard denominations of £5, £10, £20, £50, £100. All three banks issue the same denominations.
£1 million and £100 million notes are also used, but these are not in circulation, they are only used as an internal means of money within the banks.
The Bank of Scotland introduced a new series of notes in 1995 called the Tercentenary Series that commemorated the fact that it was 300 years old. However, despite the fact that this is a relatively new sector of Nobes they have already been replaced in 2007 by a new series, which is called the Bridges of Scotland. However, the Tercentenary Series are still in circulation and they are still legal tender.
The Royal Bank of Scotland issues notes that
currently all contain depictions of Castles in Scotland. These are
namely Edinburgh Castle,
Culzean Castle, Glamis Castle, Brodick
Castle, Inverness Castle and finally the very famous Balmoral Castle.
It often prints commemorative bank notes and has even issued a £5 note
which was in honour of Jack Nicklaus, who played his last Open
competition in 2005 at St Andrews in Scotland.
The Clydesdale Bank has various famous Scottish people featured on their notes ranging from others the poet Robert Burns to the famous economist Adam Smith. They too issue commemorative banknotes.
Irish notes
Although
often referred to as Irish notes, these notes are actually issued in
Northern Ireland. In Southern Ireland, often known as Eire, the euro
is now the legal currency. Near to the border between northern and
southern Ireland, you may find that both £notes and Є notes are in
circulation, but the pound is the currency in Northern Ireland.
Bank notes are issued by the Bank of Ireland, Northern Bank, First Trust Bank and the Ulster Bank.
The Bank of Ireland notes are really quite different from the British pounds. The£5 is blue, £10 pink, £20 green, £50 is blue-green as is the £100 note.
Northern Bank notes are also quite different. Interestingly, the Northern Bank issues a £5 note, which is a polymer note. This actually features the US space shuttle. So the Northern Bank is one that is quite progressive and forward thinking! The other denominations are paper and feature prominent citizens from Northern Ireland on them.
The First Trust bank issues notes that are really very interesting. They depict two people one of whom is male and the other female. On the £5 note, they are shown as children. On the £10 and £20 notes they are shown as grown-up and middle aged and on the £50 and £100 notes they are shown as elderly. Somehow this gives the currency a real human feel to it.
Ulster Bank notes are all quite different as well. The £5 is grey, £10 blue and green, £20 purple, £50 blue, £100 blue.
The Ulster Bank issued its first ever commemorative bank note in November 2006, which was 1 million x £5 notes, to commemorate their first anniversary of George Best’s death. Best had been a very famous Northern Irish footballer. This was the first of their bank notes with the new logo shown on it and the entire stock of the commemorative notes was snapped up within hours of being made available.
The Channel Islands
The Channel Islands have the standard denominations available, but they also use a £1 note. They do not use the £100 note.
There are actually two forms of Channel Islands’ money. There is Jersey money and Guernsey money! Both sets of money are actually very different to the standard English pounds, but they do feature a picture of the Queen, Elizabeth ll who actually looks very young on the notes.
Both currencies use various scenes from their islands as depictions, in addition to the picture of the Queen.
Both these currencies cannot be accepted on the mainland of Britain and need to be exchanged at a bank or bureau de change. If you try to use them on mainland Britain, you will simply find that they will not be accepted and indeed, many people on mainland Britain will not have even seen them before.
Sometimes it can be possible to get an odd Channel Islands coin included in change. You will find these very difficult to pass on, since after all they are not legal currency. It isn’t even possible to use them in a vending machine, which will recognise that they are not legal tender. So if you do end up with one, it is best just to keep it as some kind of souvenir of your stay!
Isle of Man
As if things were not confusing enough for the traveler, the Isle of Man government also issues its own version of the pound, which is known as the Manx pound. This is not legal tender anywhere on mainland Britain and will not be accepted as such.
The denominations are much the same as for the British pound apart from the fact that the 100 pounds note is not used.
Are all these versions of the pound a good thing?
To some extent, the answer to this question, depends on who you talk to. Despite the fact that the United Kingdom is made up of the mainland and some outlying islands and then of course Northern Ireland, many people are unaware of the different versions of the pound that are available.
Although geographically the United Kingdom is actually quite small, many people from England will not have travelled to Northern Ireland or even the Channel Islands. Most will have ventured to Scotland, even if only for a short visit. So most people in England will be aware of the Scottish pound note, but they may not even realise that there are separate notes used in Northern Ireland.
As a consequence, if you asked an English person what they felt about the different types of pound notes in circulation, they may not be familiar with them all and more to the point at the may be relatively unconcerned about the different types of notes.
However, in Scotland most people regard their currency as being a symbol of just how different Scotland and England are and many would be extremely reluctant to relinquish their Scottish pounds. Since Scotland gained its own parliament, there is an increased sense of Scotland being different and having its own role to play on the world stage. In some ways this has also increased the Scottish Independent Movement, which would like to see Scotland having greater autonomy from England and perhaps not being part of the United Kingdom. This means that people in Scotland would be extremely reluctant to get rid of their money.
If you speak to an Irish person, again they would tend to wish to keep their own money because it gives them a sense of being part of the United Kingdom, but it also helps them to recognise that their own, unique special place within that kingdom.
Northern Ireland has experienced a very tumultuous period in its history and it is only recently, that the troubles in Northern Ireland have actually stopped. Politically therefore it would be extremely difficult to implement a system whereby English money was used in Northern Ireland as the exclusive currency, because this may ignite political upheaval and the troubles may start all over again.
It would almost be easier it to adopt the euro in Northern Ireland, than it would be to adopt bank notes issued by the Bank of England.
In the Channel Islands, there is also a feeling that their pound notes give them a real sense of cultural identity. Due to the fact that they are very much part way between France and England, they do have a very unique identity and they regard this as being important. Given that we seem to be living in a world that is increasingly becoming globalised and to some extent the world is shrinking, small groups of islands like these tend to cling on to their own and sometimes historic ways of being. So they too will be unwilling to let go of their currency.
Thus, the issue of currency is not a simple one in the United Kingdom. History, politics, issues of national identity and national pride all come together to make this a really complex issue.
Some people very much like the idea of different types of pounds being used in different areas of the United Kingdom, whereas some people feel that it is time that the United Kingdom moved forward and used just the one type of British pound.
Does it actually matter?
Until Britain becomes able to have a standard pound in circulation, many people argue that it will be increasingly more difficult to introduce the euro as the standard of currency throughout the United Kingdom. If Scottish people, Irish people and those people who live in the Channel Islands are allowed to retain their currency for some time to come, then they will be less likely to ever join the euro.
Critics point out that retaining the Scottish, Irish and Channel Islands money, simply panders to a sense of nationalism that is not appropriate now that the United Kingdom is part of Europe. The United Kingdom receives a good deal of subsidy from the European Union and indeed Scotland receives a significant amount of that money. So if the United Kingdom and particularly Scotland receive money from Europe, then shouldn't they use the currency that the rest of Europe does?
In practical terms the use of the different types of notes is also something of a difficulty. Although the Scottish and Irish notes are legal tender in all other parts of the United Kingdom, the reality is that you will find that in Scotland, Scottish and English notes will be generally accepted, but in some parts you may have difficulty getting Irish notes accepted.
In England, you will have real problems getting Scottish and Irish notes accepted by anyone apart from in a bank. London may be the exception to this, but even here you may struggle to use your Scottish or Irish notes.
Mainly this is because people in England are not familiar enough with the Scottish or Irish notes and cannot spot a fake note or tell whether a note is genuine. Once counterfeiters became aware of this unfamiliarity with the currencies, they definitely made the most of the opportunity and made lots of fake £20 and £50 pound notes in particular. So the poor old unsuspecting public found themselves in receipt of money that was actually fake.
As a result storeowners instructed staff not to accept Scottish or Irish banknotes, because they may well be fake. This situation continues today. So although they are legal tender, in reality they are very difficult to use.
If just one version of the pound were circulated, then it would be much easier to tell which is a fake and which is genuine. This would make counterfeiting just that little bit more difficult and give the public a little bit more protection. However this is unlikely to happen for some time and there is probably more chance of the United Kingdom joining the euro, than there is of it adopting just the one good old British pound!