what is the gbp 
gbp is the abbreviation for the british pound sterling the official currency of the united kingdom the british overseas territories of south georgia the south sandwich islands and british antarctic territory and the u k crown dependencies the isle of man and the channel islands the british pound sterling is symbolized by the pound sign and is sometimes referred to as sterling or by the nickname quid trading the gbpthe british pound competes with the u s dollar usd euro eur and japanese yen jpy in daily volume trading the most common currency pairs involving the british pound are the euro eur gbp and the u s dollar gbp usd gbp usd is referred to as cable by foreign exchange traders 1the penny sterling or pence is 1 100th of a pound many stocks are traded in pence rather than in pounds stock exchanges may use gbx to indicate pence though the official name of gbp is pound sterling sterling or stg may be used more commonly in accounting or foreign exchange forex settings currencies pegged to the british pound include the falkland islands pound gibraltar pound saint helena pound jersey pound jep guernsey pound ggp manx pound scotland notes and northern ireland notes the gbp or british pound sterling is the oldest active legal tender in the world 2history of the gbpthe british pound became the official currency of the united kingdom when england and scotland united to form a single country in 1707 but the pound was used as a form of money in the year 760 3 until 1855 when printing began the bank of england wrote all banknotes by hand the british pound served as currency in the colonies of the british empire including australia new zealand and canada in the late 19th and early 20th centuries many countries tied the value of their currencies to the price of gold the gold standard offered a uniform way to determine value among world currencies before world war i the united kingdom used the gold standard to set the value of the british pound at the outbreak of world war i the country abandoned the gold standard then reinstated it in post war 1925 only to abandon it again during the great depression in 1971 the united kingdom allowed the british pound to float freely allowing market forces to determine its value in 2002 when the euro became the common currency of most european union eu member nations the u k kept the gbp as its official currency this turned out to be a good decision for the u k as it officially left the eu in 2020 45legislation and the gbpin a june 2016 referendum british voters supported a measure to leave the european union through a process called brexit 6 the gbp declined significantly upon the u k s split from the eu and the value fluctuated in response to trade negotiations the pound sterling declined again in sept 2022 after prime minister liz truss announced economic policies on tax cuts although the truss government aimed to boost u k economic productivity investors and forex traders were concerned that tax cuts would increase already high inflation and debt the gbp usd sank to an all time low of 1 03 on sept 26 2022 7