In addition to the pound Scots, silver coins were issued denominated in merk, worth 13 shillings 4 pence (two thirds of a pound Scots). When James VI became King James I of England in 1603, the coinage was reformed to closely match that of England, with 12 pounds Scots equal to the pound sterling. In 1707, the pound Scots was replaced by the pound sterling at a rate of 12 to 1, although the pound Scots continued to be used in Scotland as a unit of account for most of the 18th century.
Today there is no distinct Pound Scots; but Scotland's three largest national clearing banks (the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank) still print paper pound notes for domestic circulation. These notes may be accepted as payment throughout the United Kingdom, but are much more commonly seen in Scotland; they represent the same Pound Sterling value as do Bank of England notes in England and Wales. (Technically, no paper money, whether issued by the Bank of England or by one of the various Scottish or Northern Irish banks chartered to print notes, is mandated to be legal tender in Scotland; all paper money in the country is still in theory issued as 'promissory notes' — essentially a cheque made out to bearer.)
See also
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday July 05, 2008 at 16:04:54 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
In addition to the pound Scots, silver coins were issued denominated in merk, worth 13 shillings 4 pence (two thirds of a pound Scots). When James VI became King James I of England in 1603, the coinage was reformed to closely match that of England, with 12 pounds Scots equal to the pound sterling. In 1707, the pound Scots was replaced by the pound sterling at a rate of 12 to 1, although the pound Scots continued to be used in Scotland as a unit of account for most of the 18th century.
Today there is no distinct Pound Scots; but Scotland's three largest national clearing banks (the Royal Bank of Scotland, the Bank of Scotland and the Clydesdale Bank) still print paper pound notes for domestic circulation. These notes may be accepted as payment throughout the United Kingdom, but are much more commonly seen in Scotland; they represent the same Pound Sterling value as do Bank of England notes in England and Wales. (Technically, no paper money, whether issued by the Bank of England or by one of the various Scottish or Northern Irish banks chartered to print notes, is mandated to be legal tender in Scotland; all paper money in the country is still in theory issued as 'promissory notes' — essentially a cheque made out to bearer.)
See also
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Last updated on Saturday July 05, 2008 at 16:04:54 PDT (GMT -0700)
View this article at Wikipedia.org - Edit this article at Wikipedia.org - Donate to the Wikimedia Foundation
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