British currency

One of the first things visitors to a country have to get to grips with is the local currency and the different selection of notes and coins. In the UK the Pound or Pound Sterling (£) is the official currency and the four main notes in circulation are the £50, £20, £10 and £5, and they get bigger in actual size as the value gets bigger.

One Pound is split into 100 pence and there are eight coins in use ranging in value from £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p, 1p. The size of the coins is not in relation to their value as with the notes, and the lower value ones are pretty much only useful as ballast these days.

If you’re travelling throughout the UK on your trip you’ll notice that notes in England are issued by the Bank of England, whereas in Scotland and Northern Ireland notes will be issued by a number of banks including the Bank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Bank of Ireland among others. These are legal tender in England but you might find some people reluctant to accept them. The Euro is also being accepted as payment in a number of shops and restaurants in central London but check what rate of exchange they’re using.

Below are examples of the notes and coins in use in England. The pictures are not to scale but the coins are roughly in proportion to each other in size.

£50 note
£20 note
£10 note
£5 note
£2 coin
£1 coin
50p coin
20p coin
10p coin
5p coin
2p coin
1p coin