what is the gibraltar pound gip 
the gibraltar pound abbreviated as gip is the official currency for the country of gibraltar the gibraltar pound is pegged at par value to the british pound sterling at a fixed exchange rate understanding the gibraltar pound gip the gibraltar pound is issued by the government of gibraltar under the terms of the 1934 currency note act its treasury mints coins in 1 2 5 1 penny 2 pence 5 pence 10 pence 20 pence and 50 pence it prints banknotes in denominations of 5 10 20 50 and 100 the notes and coins in circulation use british names but have different designs they are only accepted in gibraltar the gip is not recognized in the united kingdom although it can be exchanged for british pound sterling notes at a one to one ratio british coins and notes issued by the bank of england are legal tenders in gibraltar however most retail stores in gibraltar unofficially also accept the euro although the royal gibraltar post office does not gibraltar decimalized its currency in 1971 at the same time as the u k replacing the system of 1 pound 20 shillings 240 pence with one of 1 pound 100 new pence gibraltar s economylocated in the south of the iberian peninsula gibraltar is officially a british overseas territory the british military has dominated the economy of gibraltar and its naval dockyard was historically the center of economic activity however military activities and business have declined over the last several decades from 60 in 1984 to an estimated 7 currently 1gibraltar s economy is now based on financial services online gaming navigation and tourism the country remains a significant port in the mediterranean sea with bunkering the supplying of fuel to ships another important industry history of the gibraltar poundfrom 1825 to 1872 the currency situation in gibraltar was complicated with a system based on the spanish real de plata but encompassing british spanish and gibraltarian coins the real was tied to the pound at the rate of one spanish dollar to four shillings four pence equivalent to 21 67 pence today in 1872 however the spanish currency became the sole legal tender of the country then in 1898 the spanish american war made the spanish currency drop dramatically in value as a result the pound was introduced as the official coin of the realm initially in the form of british coins and banknotes though spanish money continued in circulation gibraltar began issuing its own banknotes in 1927 the official birth of the gibraltar pound and its own coins in 1988 the coins were in denominations of 1 2 5 10 20 and 50 pence and 1 pound coins with unique designs and the country s name in 2011 the gibraltar government assumed sole responsibility for the design printing and production of banknotes taking over responsibilities that until then had been the preserve of the british government in 2016 gibraltar s government issued a new 100 banknote bearing the image of sir joshua hassan gibraltar s first chief minister and an architect of the territory s self rule the note was the first in the world to have a holographic foil on safeguard polymer substrate 2in 1975 10 and 20 notes were introduced followed by 50 notes in 1986 new series of notes were issued in 1995 and 2010 11 two pound coins were introduced in 1999 the 2 coin has featured a new design every year since its introduction depicting each of the 12 labors of hercules in 2004 the government of gibraltar minted a new edition of its coins to commemorate the tercentenary of british gibraltar 1704 2004 a new 5 coin was issued in 2010 inscribed with elizabeth ii queen of gibraltar 