oh2doula

I know London uses pounds and I know I will have to convert US dollars to pounds. I know there are coins and paper money in London. My question is when I exchange will I likely get paper or coins???? I dont really want to have large bills but not alot of coins either.

what are the coins and bills in London??

pence?
quid?
pound??

can you relate them to penny nickle dime quarter $1 $5 $10 $20 $100....???

thanks

adrienne

Here's a web site to help you. A quid is slang for a pound.

http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...ons/money.html

I would also suggest looking through a guidebook before going to London.

Here's a site for currency conversion to help you figure out how much a GBP equals in dollars (the exchange rate fluctuates daily). Currently 1 GBP = $1. You should be able to do the math on the penny, nickle, etc.

http://www.xe.com/ucc/

adrienne

Correction - 1 GBP = $1.50.

taggie

Quid is sort of slang for pound.

Notes come in £5 and above (10, 20, 50, etc) like dollars do.

£1 and £2 come in coins.

The pound is divided into pence (kind of like cents).

1 pence, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20, 50p

There isn't anything for 25p (like a quarter) - they have 20p though.

Cathinjoetown

The most efficient and usually the least expensive way to obtain pounds is from UK bank ATM machines (often signed Cash Point) by using your US debit card.

The ATMs usually dispense a mix of 10 and 20 pound paper notes, depending on how many pounds you request. The fees and amount in dollars are charged to your US bank account.

Before you leave, check with your bank on their fees and advise them that you will be drawing money out in the UK.

Most guide books have photos of the coins and notes (bills) used in the UK--their shapes and sizes.

oh2doula

thanks again

scotlib

hi oh2doula,

Similar to the carry-on/check differences of opinion, you can get differences of opinion if you need money with you when you arrive or you just get some from an ATM at Heathrow.

To buy some pounds in the US will cost you more than to wait until you reach London.

However, if you were to fall into the camp of feeling more comfortable with some money in your pocket when you arrive, and if you are a member of AAA, you can go to your local office and ask for a tip pack.

You will pay more, but you will get an envelope with some various bills and coins.

At the time of my first trip, the pound/dollar was about $2 for one pound, but instead of 50 pounds for $100 my tip pack had about 43 or 45 pounds. Call and ask how many pounds you would receive in a $100 tip pack and then you decide if the cost is worth it to you.

Many, many will say do not worry and wait until you get there. If you are a planner/worrier, you may like the info.

A bank could get you a few pounds ahead, or to exchange some at the airport, here, is possible, but each will cost you more than to wait, and I do not know if you would get the coinage, should you like that feature of the tip pack.

Again, you can Definitely wait until you arrive and just use an ATM. They will be all over.

If you have some left over at the end of your visit, pocket them to use on your next visit, yes!

This is a childish site, but, hey, you may enjoy it, and when something is new, the beginning is a good place to start. Tthe BBC - KS1 Bitesize Numeracy web site has some fun games. In the "Money" game, you just need to pretend that the pound sign is a dollar sign.

Cheers

scotlib

woops, you need this:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ks1bitesize/numeracy/

scotlib

Sigh, the woes of copy/paste. For anyone wondering, "Why pretend the pound sign is a dollar sign!?"

If you are on the US side of the pond and want a web site to help little ones work with money.

Heimdall

Simple answer: when you withdraw £ from a cash machine in the UK, you will get £10 and £20 notes.

BTW, there is no such thing as "1 pence", since pence is the plural of penny. These days most people say "1 p, 50 p, etc"

sashh

If you do change money at a bank or bureaux de change don't let them give you a £50 note. There have been a lot of forgeries and as a result a lot of shops and restaurants won't take them.

Coins come in

1p 2p 5p 10p 20p 50p £1 £2 (there is a £5 but you probably won't see one, I've only ever seen one and I've lived my entire life here)

Notes
£5 £10 £20 and the dreaded £50 which again you probably won't see.

Carrybean

Sashh, you've really only seen one fiver? I've gotten them on a few occasions. Not usual but not rare to me when I go there. Maybe one tends to get them more frequently when changing currency.

hetismij

sashh is referring to the 5 pound coin not the fiver - 5 pound note. I never even knew there was a 5 pound coin, but I don't go back that often so am unlikely to get one.
I assume they are more special commemorative coins, a bit like the old crown?

Ah yes Wiki is your friend:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_five_pound_coin