Like many other countries, we use a decimal currency system. We count in pounds and pennies (pence) and one hundred pence (100p) equals one pound (£1).
Monetary amounts are written with whole pounds (multiples of 100 pence) followed by a decimal point (.) and any remaining pence (adding up to less than 100) after the decimal point.
For example:
Note: Only two places are required after the decimal point, when counting money, as we only need to record values between 00 (zero) and 99 pence.
How would you write 7 pounds and 100 pence?
100 pence is equal to 1 pound, so we actually have 8 pounds in total.
This would be written as £8.00 indicating 8 pounds and no pence.
Prior to ‘decimalisation’ in February 1971, the UK’s money system was a bit more complicated!
A pound was worth 4 crowns, or 20 shillings, or 240 pennies. Various other coins represented multiples of a penny, such as the threepenny bit (three pence), sixpence and half a crown.