goddesstogo

Hi,
I've been looking at apartments in London on a website called UK Sabbaticals. I've noticed that the prices are stated in 'pounds', 'british pounds', 'pounds sterling' or 'gbp'. Are these all the same thing -- pounds?

goddesstogo

oh, and some of the flats are described as 'conversion flats'. What does that mean?

zeppole

yes, they're all pounds, and a conversion flat is an apartment created out of what was formerly a house (as opposed to a purpose-built apartment building, like a tenement flat or council flat)

goddesstogo

Thanks so much, zeppole. That's a great help.

BikerScott

Another note - "tenement" doesn't necessarily have the same connotations in the UK that it does in North America - all it means here is a multi-unit apartment building...as opposed to a really run down and barely adequate multi-unit apartment =^D
Good luck on your search!

bob_brown

I agree that the official and quasi official designations of the £, which means the British pound, or pound sterling has several forms.

The clarity is still important because the currencies of several other nations are still designated as "pounds." For example Cyprus, Egypt, Lebanon and Syria still use that term in English to refer to their currencies.

The term "dollar" is also widely used. We normally think of the $ as referring to US Dollars. Again, this distinction is important when speaking internationally because so many other nations use the term "dollar" to designate their currencies. The list is quite long, in fact, I was surprised at the length. Among the nations of the former British Empire, Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, and New Zealand also use the term dollar. This list is by no means all inclusive!!

When the original question was presented, I was curious and started looking at a list of national currencies. Some other interesting facts also came to light.
Such as the euro zone now includes 15 nations at present and several other nations, e.g. Montenegro, have adopted the euro unoficially, and there are formal currency agreements with some of the micro countries like Monaco and the Vatican that make the euro their legal tender.

Several other countries where the euro is not the official currency often price goods and services in euro and will even accept payment in that form. I know I priced my hotel in Prague in euro, but paid in Czech Koruna. The transport service I used from the airport also priced the fare in euro and would have accepted payment in that form had I had some with me.

So the euro is spreading and is now the world's most widely used currency.

suze

all the same thing

J_R_Hartley

"The Queen's English Pounds Sterling is correct", as is "Quid", "Nicker" and "Sovs"

Underhill

Is "guineas" ever used these days?

Heimdall

Tattersalls bloodstock sales were still in guineas, last time I was there. Guinea = 21 shillings in old money, £1.05 in new.

goddesstogo

Thanks again -- that's good to know about tenements too.

J_R_Hartley

Twelve pennies to a shilling

Twenty shillings in a pound

A Guinea is one pound and one shilling (21 shillings as heimdall points out)

A shilling (5p)was refered to as a 'bob' and you will still hear "ten bob bit" to refer to a 50p piece.

Ten bob bits, as well as thruppeny bits move us into Cockney rhyming slang.

"She's got a great pair of thruppennies"

Robespierre

Do not confuse nicker (plural noun) with knickers (singular noun). There is a value relationship between them that we don't need to explore right here and now.

If &quot;two pence&quot; is <i>tuppence</i>, why isn't &quot;new pence&quot; <i>nuppence</i>?

Heimdall

Before decimalization the abbreviation for penny or pence (plural) was &quot;d&quot;, derived from the Latin denarii. Thus two pence was written 2d, and pronounced &quot;tuppence&quot;.

With decimalization, to distinguish the new coinage the abbreviation was changed from &quot;d&quot; to &quot;p&quot;, written 2p. People began to pronounce it &quot;two pea&quot;, and now, sadly, &quot;tuppence&quot; has disappeared from usage.

A further corruption is &quot;one pence&quot;, instead of &quot;one penny&quot;, which, of course, is incorrect because pence is plural. I have even heard the former Chancellor of the Exchequer (our current PM) say &quot;one pence&quot;.

stfc

goddesstogo - don't be confused by all this talk of pre-decimal currency, it disappeared in 1971.

If you interested in its past, start at http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/victorian/.../currency.html.

GBP is just an abbreviation used in currency transactions as many non-British keyboards don't have the pound sign. The word sterling dates from centuries ago when the 'pound' was referenced to its weight in silver. Don't get excited, it isn't any more. 'British' pounds because other countries use pounds as well, eg Gibraltar, and Cyprus until a few months ago, although fewer as time passes.

Be aware, if you go to Scotland or N Ireland you might receive currency printed by banks there. Use them before going back to England, because they aren't welcome and you could get stuck with them.

PatrickLondon

Scottish and NI notes are valid in England, but it can be a pain getting them accepted in a lot of circumstances. You might find a Scot who's willing to take up the cudgels for you, but it all takes time you could spend better on other things.

alanRow

&lt;&lt;&lt; Scottish and NI notes are valid in England, &gt;&gt;&gt;

They aren't even legal tender in Scotland, let alone England - they are however accepted in some places in England, and always accepted in Scotland / NI respectively.

Note Scottish &pound;50 notes don't travel well as one of the previous generation was frequently forged

Cholmondley_Warner

Scotch money is usually accepted (but the score and McGarret notes are considered moody because of the number of sextons about).

Northern Irish money is not commonly accepted but a bank will change it for you (with no fees).

J_R_Hartley

&quot;Scotch money is usually accepted&quot;

You may end up having to do a tour of several shops.

No one has mentioned farthings.

sheila

Ther is a very long thread four or five years ago, about &quot;legal tender&quot;. But the Bank of England itself says, of Scottish notes:-

&quot;‘No’ these notes are not legal tender; only Bank of England notes are legal tender but only in England and Wales.
The term legal tender does not in itself govern the acceptability of banknotes in transactions. Whether or not notes have legal tender status, their acceptability as a means of payment is essentially a matter for agreement between the parties involved. Legal tender has a very narrow technical meaning in relation to the settlement of debt. If a debtor pays in legal tender the exact amount he owes under the terms of a contract, he has good defence in law if he is subsequently sued for non-payment of the debt. In ordinary everyday transactions, the term ‘legal tender’ has very little practical application.&quot;

In other words, I can write on a piece of paper, &quot;I promise to pay the bearer &pound;1&quot; and, if you think me trustowrthy and accept it, that's a deal.