what is a quid 
 quid is a slang expression for the british pound sterling gbp the currency of the united kingdom a quid equals 100 pence and the nickname may stem from the latin phrase quid pro quo which translates as something for something origins of the term quidthe term quid began sometime in the late 17th century but the link with the british currency is unclear 1 some scholars believe that italian immigrants extracted the term from scudo the name for gold and silver coins of various denominations used in italy from the 16th century through the 19th century the word origin may trace back to quidhampton a village in wiltshire england once home to a royal mint paper mill any paper money made in this mill might have been called a quid the pound sterling has a rich history of more than 12 centuries as the world s oldest currency still in use the modern pound sterling whether in coins or bills contains no silver but retains the word often associated with silver sterling history of the british pound sterlinghistorians trace the pound sterling back to 775 a d when anglo saxon kings used silver pennies called sterlings as currency a collection of 240 equaled 1 pound of sterlings hence the name pound sterling in latin libra means weight and libra pondo translates to pound weight which is why the british pound bears a l or symbol 1the use of a single pound coin or sovereign began in 1489 under king henry vii 2 in addition to the united kingdom the british pound has served as currency in many colonies of the british empire including australia new zealand and canada the u k is made up of england northern ireland scotland and wales 3two hundred forty pence in one pound sterling remained the standard for nearly 1 200 years until 1971 when the british parliament instituted decimalization to make 100 pence equal to one pound sterling 1timeline of u k banknotes and coinsfrom 775 to 1971 british coins were made into many denominations no longer circulating including pennies halfpennies farthings half crowns and double florins in 2023 the u k has eight coins and four notes circulating 56quid and famous phrases idiomsby this point you know that quid is simply a slang term that refers to a specific currency because it has an engrained nature in language the phrase quid is used throughout literacy and has ties to several more common phrases some examples of these phrases include 