What do british call cents

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However, the exact etymology of the word as it relates to the British pound is still uncertain. Quid, as it describes one pound sterling, is thought to have first come into use sometime in the late 17 th century, but no one is quite certain why this word became synonymous with the British currency. Some scholars believe that Italian immigrants may have originated the word thanks to "scudo," the name for gold and silver coins of various denominations that were used in Italy from the 16 th century through the 19 th century.

Another possibility is that the word traces back to Quidhampton, a village in Wiltshire, England, that once was home to a Royal Mint paper mill. Today, the U. The U. Historians trace the pound sterling all the way back to A. Someone who collected of them had 1 pound of sterlings, hence the name "pound sterling. The standard of pence in one pound sterling remained the standard for nearly 1, years until This was when the British Parliament instituted decimalization to make pence equal one pound sterling.

An actual pound coin did not exist until when Henry VII was king, and it was called a sovereign. In addition to the United Kingdom, the British pound has previously served as currency in many of the colonies of the British Empire including Australia, New Zealand, and Canada. Shillings were first minted in , with 12 pence in 20 shillings and 20 shillings in one pound. Gold coins started in Between A.

Some of these coins were called pennies, halfpennies, farthings, half-crowns, and double-florins. Other coins included groats, threepenny bits, and twopence. We do not use the Euro. Although a few of the big shops will accept Euro, it is rarely used across Britain. Since decimalisation in , the pound has been divided into pence. The singular of pence is " penny ". The symbol for the penny is " p "; hence an amount such as 50p is often pronounced "fifty pee" rather than "fifty pence".

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