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Every country in the world has its own currency. In Spain it is the euro (a common currency for European countries)

whereas in the case of the United Kingdom, it is the Pound  Sterling, sometimes called British Pound and commonly

referred to as just 'pound'. However, there are other countries such as Egypt, Sudan or Lebanon which also have a

currency unit called pound.

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The pound sterling is represented by the symbol £, placed at the beginning of the amount of money. One UK pound is

divided into a hundred pence, abbreviated 'p.' so £1 = 100 p. If you have 50p., you have £0.50;  If you have £6.50, you

have 6 pounds (£6) and 50 pence (50p.), and so on. The decimal point (.) separates the pounds from the pence.

Something curious is that British people, in very informal contexts, happen to use the word 'quid' to refer to pounds so

if  you hear that something costs 7 quid, for example, it means 7 pounds. They also have specific names such as a

fiver, a tenner, etc. for some money quantities. We will explore this later on.

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When it comes to its use in banking and business all over the world the pound sterling is represented with the

international three-letter symbol code GBP (Great Britain Pound). This is the symbol that you will find in currency

exchange shops or websites for currency conversion.

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Exchange rates, that is, the value of a country's money in relation to another country's money, tells you how much

your currency is worth in a foreign currency or, in other words, how many pounds you could buy for every euro or any

other currency you may have. This varies every day so you should study when is the best moment to exchange your

money or buy currency. 

If you are abroad, or buying something from another country online, the price will be given in a different  currency. 

You will need to work out how much the item costs in your own currency (euros) so that you can make a  decision 

about whether to buy the item or not. To do so, you need to know an estimated conversion rate and make  a quick 

calculation.

Let's suppose that we are in London and we need to know how many euros (€) are £17.85. To work it out you have

to multiply the price in pounds (17.85) by  the current exchange rate (for example, on 9^th May 2022 it is 1.17) and the

amount that you get is the equivalent in euros. In other words,  £17.85 * 1.17 = 20.88 €.

What happens if it is the other way round, that is, from euros to pounds?. Well, in this case, instead of multiplying

you need to divide between 1.17. That way, 17.85 € would correspond to an estimated amount of £15.25.

Do not overlook the fact that applying  the exchange rate of the current day is crucial. Otherwise, your calculation

will not be precise.

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Keep this formula in mind:

Remember to be up to date every time you need to make a calcultation either by checking the rate on Google: Today's

exchange rate or using a website to make an automatic conversion for you: Currency converter