## Step 2 - Reading

All about money
You are going to read a text about the British currency.

- Do assignment 1.
- Read the text.
- Do assignment 2.

#### Assignment 1

Discuss the following questions in your group:

- What is the British currency?
- What coins are used in the UK?
- What banknotes are used in the UK?
- What is the value of the British currency?

If you don’t know the answers find them on the Internet.

All about money The British currency is the pound sterling. The pound sterling, which strictly speaking refers to basic currency unit of sterling, now the pound, can generally refer to the currency of the United Kingdom (UK). The standard ISO 4217 currency code is GBP = Great British Pound (UKP is non-standard and sometimes wrongly used). The sign for the pound is £ (or rarely just "L"). Both symbols derive from libra, the Latin word for "pound". In the UK, in order to distinguish the unit of currency from the unit of mass, and from other units of currency that have the same name, a pound is often referred to as a pound sterling or sometimes simply sterling. The slang term quid is also substituted in informal conversation for "pound(s) sterling". The sterling was originally a name for a silver penny of 1/240 pound. In modern times the pound has replaced the penny as the basic unit of currency as inflation has steadily eroded the value of the currency. Originally a silver penny had the purchasing power of slightly less than a modern pound. In the UK the Euro is not used. Although a few of the big shops will accept Euro, it is rarely used across Britain. Since decimalisation in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 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". In the UK they have both coins and banknotes. Current coins are: 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound and 2 pounds. Current bank notes are: The 5 pound note, the 10 pound note, the 20 pound note and the 50 pound note. Old money conversions to money used today Six pence - 2,5p One shilling (or 'bob') - 5p Half a crown (2 shillings and sixpence) - 12,5p One guinea - £1.05