View source for Pound sign

{{Short description|Currency sign}}
{{About|the currency symbols "£" and "₤"|the sign "#"|Number sign|the sign "lb"|pound (mass)}}
{{Infobox currency sign|mark=£
|unicode={{unichar|00A3|Pound sign|html=}}
|currency = [[Pound (currency)|Pound]]
|different from={{unichar|20A4|Lira sign|nlink=Lira#Lira sign}} <br /> {{unichar|0023|Number sign|nlink=Number sign}}
|variant1={{not a typo|￡}}
|variant1 caption={{unichar|FFE1|Fullwidth pound sign|nlink=Halfwidth and fullwidth forms}}
}}
[[File:Pound sign fonts.svg|thumb|The £ [[grapheme]] in a selection of [[font]]s]]

The '''pound sign''' ({{char|£}}) is the [[currency symbol|symbol]] for the pound [[unit of account|unit]] of [[Pound sterling|sterling]] – the [[currency]] of the [[United Kingdom]] and its associated [[Crown Dependencies]] and [[British Overseas Territories]] and previously of [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and of the [[Kingdom of England]]. The same symbol is used for other currencies called [[pound (currency)|pound]], such as the [[Egyptian pound|Egyptian]] and [[Syrian pound|Syrian]] pounds. The sign may be drawn with one or two bars depending on personal preference, but the [[Bank of England]] has used the one-bar style exclusively on banknotes since 1975.<!-- Cited in body per [[wp:LEADCITE]], no need to cite here. -->

In the United States, "pound sign" refers to the symbol {{char|#}} ([[number sign]]). In Canada, "pound sign" can mean {{char|£}} or  {{char|#}}.

==Origin==
The symbol derives from the upper case [[Latin letter]] {{char|L}}, representing ''libra pondo'', the basic unit of weight in the [[Roman Empire]], which in turn is derived from the [[Latin]] word ''libra'', meaning [[Weighing scale|scales]] or a balance. The pound became an [[Kingdom of England|English]] unit of weight and in England became defined as the [[Pound (weight)#Tower pound|tower pound]] (equivalent to 350 grams) of [[sterling silver]].<ref name= "ViewOfCoinage">{{cite book|title=A View of the Silver Coin and Coinage of England from the Norman Conquest to the Present Time|publisher=T. Snelling|date= 1762| author = Thomas Snelling |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_12AGAAAAQAAJ |page=ii |access-date=19 September 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.dozenalsociety.org.uk/history/poundhist.html |title=A brief history of the pound |publisher=The Dozenal Society of Great Britain |access-date=2011-01-14 |archive-date=2020-11-12 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112000041/http://www.dozenalsociety.org.uk/history/poundhist.html |url-status=live }}</ref> According to the [[Royal Mint Museum]]:
{{quote |It is not known for certain when the horizontal line or lines, which indicate an abbreviation,{{efn|See [[scribal abbreviations]]}} first came to be drawn through the L. However, there is in the [[Bank of England Museum]] a cheque dated 7 January 1661 with a clearly discernible £ sign. By the time the Bank was founded in 1694 the £ sign was in common use.<ref>{{cite web | url= http://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/Default.aspx?PageID=14314417 | title=The Origins of £sd | publisher=The Royal Mint Museum |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200308111135/http://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/Default.aspx?PageID=14314417 |archive-date= 8 March 2020}}</ref>}}

However, the simple letter L, in lower- or uppercase, was used to represent the pound in printed books and newspapers until well into the 19th century.<ref>For example, {{cite web | url = https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Samuel_Pepys/1660/January | title = Diary of Samuel Pepys/1660/January | author = Samuel Pepys | date = 2 January 1660 | access-date = 23 September 2019 | archive-date = 23 September 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190923210619/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Diary_of_Samuel_Pepys/1660/January | url-status = live }} ''Then I went to Mr. Crew's and borrowed L10 of Mr. Andrewes for my own use, and so went to my office, where there was nothing to do''.</ref> In the [[blackletter]] type used until the seventeenth century,<ref>{{Cite book|title=An introduction to the history of printing types; an illustrated summary of main stages in the development of type design from 1440 up to the present day: an aid to type face identification.|last=Dowding|first=Geoffrey|publisher=Wace|year=1962|location=Clerkenwell [London]|pages=5}}</ref> the letter L is rendered as <math>\mathfrak{L}</math>.

==Usage==
When used for sterling, the pound sign is placed before the numerals (e.g., £12,000) and separated from the following digits by no space or only a [[thin space]]. In the UK, the sign is used without any prefix. In [[Egypt]] and [[Lebanon]], a disambiguating letter is added ([[Egyptian pound|E£]]<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/egp.asp |title=Egyptian Pound (EGP) Definition |website=Investopedia |first=Adam |last=Hayes |date=22 April 2022 |access-date=24 August 2022 |archive-date=7 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220807225735/https://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/egp.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> or £E<ref>{{cite news | work=Daily News Egypt |url=https://dailynewsegypt.com/2008/06/10/alexandria-city-center-to-undergo-le-370-million-expansion/ | title=Alexandria City Center to undergo LE 370 million expansion |date=10 June 2008 }}</ref> and [[Lebanese pound|£L]]<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Lebanon |title=CIA World Factbook 1990 - page 178 |chapter=Lebanon |via=en.wikisource.org |date=1 April 1990 |publisher=[[Central Intelligence Agency]] |access-date=2022-06-21 |archive-date=2022-06-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220621215739/https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/The_World_Factbook_(1990)/Lebanon |url-status=live }}</ref> respectively). In international banking and [[foreign exchange]] operations, the symbol is rarely used: the [[ISO 4217]] currency code (e.g., GBP, EGP, etc.) is preferred.{{efn|Prior to ISO 4217, abbreviations such as "stg" or "STG" were traditionally used to disambiguate sterling from other currencies that used the symbol.}}

== Other English variants ==
In [[Canadian English]], the symbol {{char|£}} is called the pound sign. The symbol {{char|#}} has several uses and is sometimes called the pound sign too, though it is most often known as the number sign.<ref>{{cite book|editor1-last=Barber|editor1-first= Katherine|title=The Canadian Oxford dictionary|date=2004|publisher= Oxford University Press |location=Toronto|isbn=0-19-541816-6|edition=2nd}}</ref> (Telephone instructions for equipment manufactured in the United States often call {{char|#}} the pound key.)

In [[American English]], the term "pound sign" usually refers to the symbol {{char|#}} ([[number sign]]), and the corresponding telephone key is called the "pound key".<ref name="nyt">{{cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/magazine/on-language-hit-the-pound-sign.html | title=On Language; Hit the Pound Sign | author=William Safire | author-link=William Safire | work=[[New York Times]] | access-date=2011-05-21 | date=1991-03-24 | archive-date=2010-07-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100721065416/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/03/24/magazine/on-language-hit-the-pound-sign.html | url-status=live }}</ref> (As in Canada, the # symbol has many [[number sign|other uses]].)

==Historic variants==
===Double bar style <span class="anchor" id="Lira"></span>===
Banknotes issued by the [[Bank of England]] since 1975 have used only the single bar style as a pound sign.<ref name=BoEoldnotes>{{cite web | url =  https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/withdrawn-banknotes | title =  Withdrawn banknotes | publisher =  [[Bank of England]] | access-date =  13 September 2019 | archive-date =  15 January 2019 | archive-url =  https://web.archive.org/web/20190115092327/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/withdrawn-banknotes | url-status =  live }} ("£1 1st Series Treasury Issue" to "£5 Series B")</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current-banknotes | title = Current banknotes | publisher = [[Bank of England]] | access-date = 8 November 2019 | archive-date = 4 December 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191204081441/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current-banknotes | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="BoE-FoI">{{cite web | title=History of the use of the single crossbar pound sign on Bank of England's banknotes | url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/freedom-of-information/2022/history-of-the-use-of-the-single-crossbar-pound-sign-on-banknotes | publisher=Bank of England | access-date=13 April 2022 | archive-date=25 March 2022 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325080653/https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/freedom-of-information/2022/history-of-the-use-of-the-single-crossbar-pound-sign-on-banknotes | url-status=live }}</ref> The bank used both the two-bar style ({{char|₤}}) and the one-bar style ({{char|£}}) (and sometimes a figure without any symbol whatever) more or less equally from 1725 to 1971 intermittently and sometimes concurrently.<ref name=BoEoldnotes />  In [[typography]], the symbols are [[allograph]]s{{snd}} style choices{{snd}} when used to represent the pound; consequently fonts use {{unichar|00A3|pound sign}} ([[Unicode]]) [[code point]] irrespective of which style chosen, (not {{unichar|20A4|lira sign|nlink=Lira#Lira sign}} despite its similarity). It is a [[font design]] choice on how to draw the symbol at U+00A3.<ref name="BoE-FoI" /> Although most [[computer fonts]] do so with one bar, the two-bar style is not rare, as may be seen in the illustration above.

===Other===
[[file:CaslonSp.svg|thumb|Note the leading J of Jacquard]]
In the eighteenth-century [[Caslon]] metal fonts, the pound sign was identical to an italic uppercase [[J]], rotated 180 degrees.<ref name="Caslon's punches and matrices Howes">{{cite journal |last1=Howes |first1=Justin |date=2000 |title=Caslon's punches and matrices |url=http://davethedesigner.net/kabk/palladiumcaslon.pdf |journal=Matrix |volume=20 |pages=1–7 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240713170117/http://davethedesigner.net/kabk/palladiumcaslon.pdf |archive-date=2024-07-13}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2025|reason=Not explicitly stated by cited article.}}

== Currencies that use the pound sign ==
* Egypt: [[Egyptian pound]]
* Falkland Islands: [[Falkland Islands pound]]
*Gibraltar: [[Gibraltar pound]]
* Guernsey: [[Guernsey pound]]
* Isle of Man: [[Manx pound]]
* Jersey: [[Jersey pound]]
* Saint Helena: [[Saint Helena pound]]
* South Sudan: [[South Sudanese pound]]
* Sudan: [[Sudanese pound]]
* Syria: [[Syrian pound]]
* United Kingdom: [[Pound sterling]]

===Former currencies ===

* American Colonies:
** [[Connecticut pound]]
** [[Delaware pound]]
** [[Georgia pound]]
** [[Maryland pound]]
** [[New Hampshire pound]]
** [[New Jersey pound]]
** [[New York pound]]
** [[North Carolina pound]]
** [[Pennsylvania pound]]
** [[Rhode Island pound]]
** [[South Carolina pound]]
** [[Virginia pound]]
* Australia: [[Australian pound]]
* The Bahamas: [[Bahamian pound]]
* Bermuda: [[Bermudian pound]]
* British Mandatory Palestine: [[Palestine pound]]
* Canada: [[Canadian pound]]
** [[New Brunswick pound]]
** [[Nova Scotian pound]]
** [[Prince Edward Island pound]]
* Cyprus: [[Cypriot pound]]
* Fiji: [[Fijian pound]]
* The Gambia: [[Gambian pound]]
* Ghana: [[Ghanaian pound]]
* Ireland: [[Irish pound]]
* Israel: [[Israeli pound]]
* Malta: [[Maltese pound]]
* Newfoundland: [[Newfoundland pound]]
* New Zealand: [[New Zealand pound]]
* Rhodesia: [[Rhodesian pound]]
* South Africa: [[South African pound]]
* Tonga: [[Tongan pound]]
* Western Samoa: [[Western Samoan pound]]
* Yemen : [[Yemeni dinar]]

== Use with computers <span class="anchor" id="Unicode"></span> <span class="anchor" id="code points"></span> ==
In the [[Unicode]] standard, the pound sign is encoded at {{unichar|00A3|Pound sign|html=}}<ref name="unicode">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0080.pdf |date=11 June 2015 |title=The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 &#124; Character Code Charts |vauthors=((The Unicode Consortium)) |access-date=2018-01-23 |archive-date=2019-06-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190613180628/https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0080.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Whether the glyph is drawn with one or two bars is a [[type designer]]'s choice as explained above; the key point is that the code is constant irrespective of the presentation chosen.{{efn|There is a separate code point, {{unichar|20A4|Lira sign|html=}}<ref name="unicode2">{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U20A0.pdf |date=26 August 2015 |title=The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 &#124; Character Code Charts |vauthors=((The Unicode Consortium)) |access-date=2018-01-23 |archive-date=2021-02-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210225021252/https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U20A0.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> Unicode notes that the "[[lira sign]]" is not widely used and was added due to both it and the pound sign being available on [[HP Roman|HP printers]].<ref name="Unicode_80_Lira">{{cite book |title=The Unicode Standard - Version 8.0 - Core Specification - Chapter 22.1. Currency Symbols |date=August 2015 |orig-year=1991 |editor-first1=Julie D. |editor-last1=Allen <!-- |editor2=et al. --> |publisher=[[Unicode, Inc.]] |location=Mountain View, CA, USA |pages=751–752 |isbn=978-1-936213-10-8 |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode8.0.0/ch22.pdf |access-date=2016-12-06 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161206230132/http://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode8.0.0/ch22.pdf |archive-date=2016-12-06 |quote=[...] Currency Symbols: U+20A0–U+20CF [...] Lira Sign. A separate currency sign U+20A4 LIRA SIGN is encoded for compatibility with the ''HP Roman-8'' character set, which is still widely implemented in printers. In general, U+00A3 POUND SIGN may be used for both the various currencies known as pound (or punt) and the currencies known as lira. [...]}}</ref> }}

The encoding of the £ symbol in position xA3 (163<sub>10</sub>) was first standardised by [[ISO Latin-1]] (an "[[extended ASCII]]") in 1985. Position xA3 was used by the [[Digital Equipment Corporation]] [[VT220]] terminal, [[Mac OS Roman]], [[Amstrad CPC]], [[Amiga]], and [[Acorn Archimedes]].

Many early computers (limited to a 7-bit, 128-position [[character set]]) used a variant of [[ASCII]] with one of the less-frequently used characters replaced by the £. The UK national variant of [[ISO 646]] was standardised as BS 4730 in 1985. This code was identical to ASCII except for two characters: x23 encoded {{char|£}} instead of {{char|#}}, while x7E encoded {{char|‾}} ([[overline]]) instead of {{char|~}} ([[tilde]]). [[MS-DOS]] on the [[IBM PC]]  originally used a proprietary 8-bit character set [[Code page 437]] in which the £ symbol was encoded as x9C; adoption of the [[ISO/IEC 8859-1]] ("ISO Latin-1") standard code xA3 only came later with [[Microsoft Windows]]. The [[Atari ST]] also used position x9C. The [[HP LaserJet]] used position xBA (ISO/IEC 8859-1: {{char|º}}) for the £ symbol, while most other printers used x9C. The BBC [[Ceefax]] system which dated from 1976 encoded the £ as x23. The [[Sinclair Research|Sinclair]] [[ZX80]] and [[ZX81]] characters sets used x0C (ASCII: [[form feed]]). The [[ZX Spectrum]] and the [[BBC Micro]] used x60 (ASCII:  {{char|`}}, [[grave (accent)|grave]]). The [[Commodore 64]] used x5C (ASCII: {{char|\}}) while the [[Oric computers]] used x5F (ASCII: {{char|_}}). [[IBM]]'s [[EBCDIC]]  code page 037 uses xB1 for the £ while its code page 285 uses x5B. [[International Computers Limited|ICL]]'s [[ICT 1900 series|1900-series]] mainframes used a six-bit (64-position character set) encoding for characters, loosely based on BS 4730, with the £ symbol represented as [[octal]] 23 (hex 13, dec 19).

== Other uses ==
The logo of the [[UK Independence Party]], a British [[political party]], is based on the pound sign,<ref>{{cite web |title=UK Independence Party |url=http://www.ukip.org/ |access-date=17 April 2017 |url-status=dead |archive-date=24 August 2000 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000824101630/http://www.ukip.org/ }}</ref> symbolising the party's opposition to adoption of the [[euro]] and to the [[European Union]] generally.

A symbol that appears to be a double-barred pound sign is used as the logo of the record label [[Parlophone]]. In fact this is a stylised version of a [[Fraktur]] L (<math>\mathfrak{L}</math>), standing for Lindström (the firm's founder [[Carl Lindström Company|Carl Lindström]]).

The pound sign was used as an uppercase letter (the lowercase being {{angbr|ſ}}, [[long s]]) to signify the sound {{IPAblink|ʒ}} in the early 1993–1995 version of the [[Turkmen alphabet|Turkmen Latin alphabet]].<ref>{{cite journal |last=Clement |first=Victoria |date=2008 |title=Emblems of independence: script choice in post-Soviet Turkmenistan in the 1990s |journal=International Journal of the Sociology of Language |number=192 |pages=171–185}}</ref>

== See also ==
*[[Ł|Latin letter L with stroke]] {{char|Ł ł}}
*[[Semuncia]] {{char|𐆒}}
*[[:Category:Currency symbols]]

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

{{Currency symbols}}

[[Category:Currency symbols]]