The history of cash part final
Currency affairs: the history of cash
Sterling
The first mention of sterling is in 1078 as “sterilensis”, and by the 13th century the term was in common usage. England had a uniform national currency 600 years before France, and 900 years before either Germany or Italy.
The pound was established in 1560 by Elizabeth I and its value was one Troy pound (373.2417216 grams) of sterling silver.
Until decimalisation in 1971, a pound was made up of 20 shillings – each shilling worth 12 pence. After decimalisation, the system was simplified, so that 100 “new pence” made up a pound.
Today, pound sterling is only used in the United Kingdom of Great Britain, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the states of Jersey and the states of Guernsey. It is the world’s oldest currency still in use.
Euro
The idea of a single European currency was first mooted in 1957 in the Treaty of Rome, to increase economic prosperity and promote links between the people of Europe.
Twelve years later, a European summit at The Hague made a single currency an official objective, but it wasn’t until 1999 that the euro was introduced to an ambivalent world. Initially, it was used in a “non-physical” form – by banks and for traveller’s cheques. In 2002, coins and notes entered circulation.
More than 320 million Europeans, from 13 nations, now use the euro as their sole currency, making it the currency with the highest combined value of cash in circulation in the world.
According to the European Commission, the euro symbol is a combination of the Greek epsilon, an E for Europe and parallel lines to signify the stability of the currency.
Dollar
The dollar was adopted by the Congress of the Confederation of the United States on 6 July 1785. Prior to that, official British coinage was used, although it was frequently in short supply, resulting in an array of currency substitutes including foreign coins such as Spanish pesos or dollars and certificates for tobacco.
The use of foreign coins was supposed to be prohibited after the US dollar came into circulation, but a shortage of gold and silver meant that Spanish dollars remained legal tender until 1857.
The dollar is made up of 100 cents or 10 dimes, although “dime” is used only to describe a 10-cent coin. Although one-dollar coins are still minted, notes are significantly more common and are dubbed “bucks” or “greenbacks”. And although the US declared independence from Britain in 1776, Americans still refer to their one-cent coin as a penny.
The dollar is used as the standard unit of currency for commodities such as gold and petroleum. The United States, the British Virgin Islands, East Timor and El Salvador are among the many countries that use the dollar as their sole currency.
