Cypriot Pound
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The pound, or lira ( el, λίρα, plural , and tr, lira, ota, لیره, from the
Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
via the
Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance language *** Regional Ita ...
; sign: £, sometimes £C for distinction), was the
currency A currency, "in circulation", from la, currens, -entis, literally meaning "running" or "traversing" is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general ...
of
Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
, including the
Sovereign Base Areas Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory ...
in
Akrotiri and Dhekelia Akrotiri and Dhekelia, officially the Sovereign Base Areas of Akrotiri and Dhekelia (SBA),, ''Periochés Kyríarchon Váseon Akrotiríou ke Dekélias''; tr, Ağrotur ve Dikelya İngiliz Egemen Üs Bölgeleri is a British Overseas Territory o ...
, from 1879 to 2007, when the
Republic of Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
adopted the
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
. However, the self-proclaimed
Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus Northern Cyprus ( tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs), officially the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC; tr, Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, ''KKTC''), is a ''de facto'' state that comprises the northeastern portion of the island of Cyprus. Reco ...
uses the
Turkish lira The lira ( tr, Türk lirası; sign: ₺; ISO 4217 code: TRY; abbreviation: TL) is the official currency of Turkey and Northern Cyprus. One lira is divided into one hundred ''kuruş''. History Ottoman lira (1844–1923) The lira, along with ...
as its official currency. The Cypriot pound was introduced in 1879 and was equal in value to one pound sterling. It remained at that value until 1972, some twelve years after Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom. The Cypriot pound was replaced by the euro as official currency of the Republic of Cyprus on 1 January 2008 at the irrevocable fixed exchange rate of £C 0.585274 = €1.00.


History

The British introduced the Cypriot pound in 1879. It had the same value as sterling's pound, and replaced Turkish currency at a rate of £1 stg to 180
piastres The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant ...
. It was initially divided into 20 ''
shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...
'' ( / , , ), in common with its British counterpart. However, unlike the British shilling, the Cypriot shilling was divided into 9 ''piastres'' ( / , , , abbreviated ''cp''. or ''p''.), thus establishing a nomenclature link to earlier Ottoman currency. The piastre was itself divided into 40 ''para'' (like the ). The para denomination did not appear on any coins or banknotes but was used on postage stamps. However, the -piastre coin was equal to 10 para () and called in Greek and the -piastre coin was equal to 20 para and called . The Cypriot pound remained equal in value to sterling until 1972, some twelve years after Cyprus gained independence from the United Kingdom. The introduction of the Cypriot pound was controversial from its inception in 1879 as technically the island was a province of the Ottoman Empire and the right to issue currency within the Ottoman Empire rested solely with the Ottoman Sultan. A question on the legality of introducing the pound in Cyprus was raised by the British Member of Parliament,
Thomson Hankey Thomson Hankey (15 June 1805''London, England, Church of England Baptisms, Marriages and Burials, 1538–1812'' – 13 January 1893) was a British merchant, a banker and a Liberal Party politician. Hankey was the son of Thomson Hankey from Portl ...
, in the United Kingdom parliament in 1879, but concerns were dismissed by the British government, and they ceased to be an issue on the island following the annexation of Cyprus by Britain in 1914, in response to the Ottomans siding with the
Central Powers The Central Powers, also known as the Central Empires,german: Mittelmächte; hu, Központi hatalmak; tr, İttifak Devletleri / ; bg, Централни сили, translit=Tsentralni sili was one of the two main coalitions that fought in ...
in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. The British takeover of Cyprus in 1914 was not ratified by the Republic of Turkey until the Treaty of Lausanne in 1923, but that agreement led to the creation of a full British colonial government in Cyprus in 1926, with the establishment of a local legislative council. The Council in turn established a Cyprus Currency Board in 1927 to oversee the issue of Cypriot currency. The Currency Board could issue notes and coins, initially denominated in pounds,
shillings The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or ...
and
piastres The piastre or piaster () is any of a number of units of currency. The term originates from the Italian for "thin metal plate". The name was applied to Spanish and Hispanic American pieces of eight, or pesos, by Venetian traders in the Levant ...
, and later, following decimalization in 1955, in pounds and mils. However, the Cypriot pound remained pegged 1:1 with sterling, meaning ultimate fiscal control still rested with the Bank of England and the British government. This link was maintained by the requirement that for every pound issued by the Currency Board in Cyprus, one pound sterling issued by the Bank of England had to be deposited by the Government of Cyprus with the
Crown Agents Crown Agents Ltd is a not-for-profit international development company with head office in London, United Kingdom, and subsidiaries in USA and Japan. Crown Agents fully owns Greenshields Cowie, a freight forwarding limited company incorporated in ...
in London.


Decimalisation

In 1955, the British colonial authorities decimalised the Cypriot pound, using the "pound and mil" system proposed in 1855 by Sir William Brown MP, that the pound be divided into 1,000 parts, each called a mil (rather than 960
farthing Farthing or farthings may refer to: Coinage *Farthing (British coin), an old British coin valued one quarter of a penny ** Half farthing (British coin) ** Third farthing (British coin) ** Quarter farthing (British coin) * Farthing (English ...
s). Although this system was never adopted in the United Kingdom, it was used in several British colonies, including
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
from 1863 to 1866, and the
British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...
from 1927 until 1948. This latter example may have been the impetus to use a pound-mil system in Cyprus as the
Palestine pound The Palestine pound ( ar, جُنَيْه فِلَسْطَينِيّ, ; he, פוּנְט פַּלֶשְׂתִינָאִי (א״י), funt palestina'i (eretz-yisra'eli) or he, לירה (א״י), lira eretz-yisra'elit, link=no; Sign: £P) was the ...
was for a brief period accepted as legal tender in Cyprus. The Cypriot pound was decimalised in 1955 at 1,000 '' mils'' (, ) to the pound. Colloquially, the 5 mil coin was known as a ''piastre'' (not an exact equivalence; the piastre was equal to mils) and the 50 mil coin as a ''shilling'' (an exact equivalence). The subdivision was changed to 100 '' cents'' (, ) to the pound on 3 October 1983. At that time, the smallest coin still in circulation was that of 5 mils. This was renamed as c, but soon was abolished. Mil-denominated coins are no longer
legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...
. Towards the end of the Cypriot pound's circulation, some cashiers omitted the 1c and 2c coins from the change they gave. Owner-operated businesses often rounded down the net amount to be paid to the nearest multiple of 5c.


Towards the euro

The Cypriot pound was replaced by the
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
on 1 January 2008. The currency entered the Exchange Rate Mechanism II on 2 May 2005 and it was limited within the band of £C 0.585274 ±15% per euro. A formal application to adopt the euro was submitted on 13 February 2007. On May 16, 2007, Cyprus, along with
Malta Malta ( , , ), officially the Republic of Malta ( mt, Repubblika ta' Malta ), is an island country in the Mediterranean Sea. It consists of an archipelago, between Italy and Libya, and is often considered a part of Southern Europe. It lies ...
, received the European Commission's approval for this and was confirmed by the European Parliament on 20 June 2007 and the EU leaders on 21 June 2007. The permanent exchange rate, €1.00 = £C 0.585274, was decided by the EU Finance Ministers on 10 July 2007. From 12 July 2007 to 5 December 2007, the exchange rate remained at £ C0.5842. Since 7 December 2007, the rate has been fixed at the irrevocable rate, €1 = £C 0.585274. In summer 2006, the
Bank of Cyprus The Bank of Cyprus (BoC) ( el, Τράπεζα Κύπρου, tr, Kıbrıs Bankası) is a Cypriot financial services company established in 1899 with its headquarters in Strovolos. Current operations The Bank of Cyprus currently operates 108 bra ...
started including on its statements the indicative balance in euros. The Cyprus Telecommunications Authority followed suit with its bills two months later. A small number of shops also showed indicative euro totals on their receipts. By late autumn 2006, the number of banks and shops offering indicative euro equivalents on their statements and pricing had increased significantly.


Euro changeover

The Cypriot pound was replaced by the
euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
as official currency of the
Republic of Cyprus Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is ge ...
on 1 January 2008 at the irrevocable fixed exchange rate of £C 0.585274 = €1. However, pound banknotes and coins continued to have
legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything which when offered ("tendered") in ...
status and were accepted for cash payments until 31 January 2008. Cypriot pounds were convertible free of charge at Cypriot credit institutions until 30 June 2008. Cypriot pound coins were convertible at the Central Bank of Cyprus until 31 December 2009 and banknotes were convertible until 31 December 2017. For a wider history surrounding currency in the region, see
British currency in the Middle East The history and development of British currency in the Middle East emerged from the 19th century. British involvement in the Middle East began with the Aden Settlement in 1839. The British East India Company established an anti-piracy station in Ad ...
.


Coins


Predecimal

In 1879, copper coins were introduced in denominations of , , and 1 piastre (''p''.). The Greek-Cypriots called the first of these coins the δεκάρα (''dekara''—from the Greek word ''deka'' that means ten), referring to its equivalence to 10 para. The Greek name for the ''p''. coin was εικοσάρα (''ikosara''—from the Greek ''ikosi'' that means twenty). These coins were followed, in 1901, by silver 3''p''., ''p''., 9''p''. and 18''p''., the last two being equal to 1 and 2 shillings, as the word "shilling" appeared only on banknotes and was not used on any coins until 1947. The 3''p''. was only issued that year. The pt was last struck in 1926. In 1934, scalloped-shaped ''p''. and 1''p''. coins were introduced struck in cupro-nickel, changing to bronze in 1942. In 1947, cupro-nickel 1/– and 2/– replaced the silver coins. The last piastre and shilling coins were issued in 1949.


Decimal - mils

In 1955, 3, 5, 25, 50, and 100 mil coins were introduced, with the lowest two struck in bronze and the others in cupro-nickel. In 1963, dodecagonal, aluminium 1 mil coins were introduced, following the discontinuation of the 3 mil coin. Dodecagonal, aluminium 5 mil coins were introduced in 1981.


Decimal - cents

In 1983, coins were introduced for c, 1c, 2c, 5c, 10c and 20c, with the c the same size and composition as the earlier 5 mil coins. The other coins were struck in nickel-brass. The c was only struck in 1983. In 1991,
cupronickel Cupronickel or copper-nickel (CuNi) is an alloy of copper that contains nickel and strengthening elements, such as iron and manganese. The copper content typically varies from 60 to 90 percent. (Monel is a nickel-copper alloy that contains a minimu ...
, Reuleaux heptagonal (curved-equilateral-heptagonal) 50c coins were introduced.


Banknotes


Predecimal

In 1914, the government issued emergency notes in denominations of 10/–, and £1 and £5. Regular type notes were issued from 1917 and on. Notes for 5/– and 10/–, and £1 and £10 were introduced that year, followed by 1/- and 2/– shillings in 1920 and £5 in 1926. Denominations below 10/– were not issued after 1920 but were reintroduced in 1939, with 3''p''. notes issued between 1943 and 1944. The 1/– and 2/– notes were replaced by new coins in 1947.


Decimal - mils

In 1955, the 5/– and 10/– notes were replaced by 250 mil and 500 mil notes. The Central Bank of Cyprus was established in 1963 as an autonomous institution in accordance with the Central Bank of Cyprus Law 1963 and the relevant articles of the constitution. It began issuing paper money in 1964, and introduced £10 notes in 1977. Notes for 250 mils ceased production in 1982, shortly before the cent was introduced.


Decimal - cents

On 3 October 1983, 50c notes replaced the 500 mil notes (though using the same basic design), with £20 notes added in 1992. The last set of
banknote A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...
s in use were: The 1992/1993 version of the £20 note was almost identical to the latest one in terms of design. However, it is often considered part of the 1987–1992 series despite the apparent look and feel difference. And like the rest of the 1987–1992 series, the 1992/1993 £20 note was officially withdrawn by the Central Bank a few years before the adoption of the euro.


See also

*
Cypriot euro coins Cypriot euro coins feature three separate designs for the three series of coins. Cyprus has been a member of the European Union since 1 May 2004, and is a member of the Economic and Monetary Union of the European Union. It has completed the third ...
*
Economy of Cyprus The economy of Cyprus is a high-income economy as classified by the World Bank, and was included by the International Monetary Fund in its list of advanced economies in 2001. Cyprus adopted the euro as its official currency on 1 January 2008, r ...


References

* *


External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cypriot Pound Currencies of the British Empire Currencies of the Commonwealth of Nations Pound, Cyprus Currencies of British Overseas Territories Currencies replaced by the euro Modern obsolete currencies 1879 establishments in the British Empire