One Pound

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Did you know that traditionally, one pound of British currency promised to pay the bearer one pound of silver from the Bank of England?

 

[fla4fun]

Did you know that traditionally, one pound of British currency promised to pay the bearer one pound of silver from the Bank of England?

Were they pound notes or coins which contained this promise? When our money system stated you could be paid in gold, or silver, it was written on the paper currency. I actually have a few of these old notes in my small collection. The dollar coins were made of silver for a long time, so there wouldn’t have been a reason to exchange them.

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

Were they pound notes or coins which contained this promise? When our money system stated you could be paid in gold, or silver, it was written on the paper currency. I actually have a few of these old notes in my small collection. The dollar coins were made of silver for a long time, so there wouldn’t have been a reason to exchange them.

Paper money I believe. They state that the Bank of England must pay the bearer upon presentation of the pound note one pound of currency - in this case, silver. Not any more, sadly!

[ETA] Could be wrong, but I'm fairly confident.

 

[fla4fun]

Paper money I believe. They state that the Bank of England must pay the bearer upon presentation of the pound note one pound of currency - in this case, silver. Not any more, sadly!

[ETA] Could be wrong, but I'm fairly confident.

This is the wording we had on our notes. It is on the top and bottom of the front of the bill:

 

[Neapolitan Ice Cream]

This is the wording we had on our notes. It is on the top and bottom of the front of the bill:
View attachment 854319View attachment 854320

Aces! Never knew that!

 

[fla4fun]

Aces! Never knew that!

I have a couple of the one dollar and one five dollar silver certificates. Mine are all dated in the 1950’s. The backing of US currency by silver was discontinued under President Kennedy in the early 1960’s.

 

[lanejudy]

I thought I've heard GBP also referred to as "sterling" which would suggest a backing of silver (at least at one time).

 

[_19disnA]

Currency in the USA USED to be payable in gold or silver depending upon the notes (i.e. gold certificates or silver certificates). The ability to trade them in for a precious metal was eliminated many years ago.

The value of the metal in coins at one time was worth more then their face value so it became illegal to melt down coins for the metal they contained. Pennies, for example, are no longer made from solid copper but are a blend of various less valuable metals. Probably online somewhere you can see what the % are of whatever they and various other coins now contain.

 

[Genie+]

This is the wording we had on our notes. It is on the top and bottom of the front of the bill:
View attachment 854319View attachment 854320

I remember as a kid in the 70s and 80s you’d sometimes catch one of these in your change at the store.