The pound (

sign A sign is an object, quality, event, or entity whose presence or occurrence indicates the probable presence or occurrence of something else. A natural sign bears a causal relation to its object—for instance, thunder is a sign of storm, or me ...

: £; ISO code: GIP) is the currency of

Gibraltar Gibraltar ( , ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory and British overseas cities, city located at the southern tip of the Iberian Peninsula, on the Bay of Gibraltar, near the exit of the Mediterranean Sea into the A ...

. It is pegged to – and exchangeable with – British

pound sterling Sterling (symbol: £; currency code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word '' pound'' is also used to refer to the British currency general ...

par value In finance and accounting, par value means stated value or face value of a financial instrument. Expressions derived from this term include at par (at the par value), over par (over par value) and under par (under par value). Bonds A bond selli ...

. Coins and banknotes of the Gibraltar pound are issued by the

Government of Gibraltar His Majesty's Government of Gibraltar is the democratically elected government of the British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar. The head of state is King Charles III who is represented by the Governor. Elections in Gibraltar are held every four ...

History

Until 1872, the currency situation in Gibraltar was complicated, with a system based on the real being employed which encompassed British, Spanish and Gibraltarian coins. From 1825, the real (actually the Spanish '' real de plata'') was tied to the pound at the rate of 1

Spanish dollar The Spanish dollar, also known as the piece of eight (, , , or ), is a silver coin of approximately diameter worth eight Spanish reales. It was minted in the Spanish Empire following a monetary reform in 1497 with content fine silver. It w ...

to 4

shilling The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currency, currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 1 ...

s 4

pence A penny is a coin (: pennies) or a unit of currency (: pence) in various countries. Borrowed from the Carolingian denarius (hence its former abbreviation d.), it is usually the smallest denomination within a currency system. At present, it is t ...

(equivalent to 21.67 pence today). In 1872, however, the Spanish currency became the sole legal tender in Gibraltar. In 1898, the

Spanish–American War The Spanish–American War (April 21 – August 13, 1898) was fought between Restoration (Spain), Spain and the United States in 1898. It began with the sinking of the USS Maine (1889), USS ''Maine'' in Havana Harbor in Cuba, and resulted in the ...

made the

Spanish peseta The peseta (, ) was the currency of Spain between 1868 and 2002. Along with the French franc, it was also a de facto currency, ''de facto'' currency used in Andorra (which had no national currency with legal tender). Etymology The name of the ...

drop alarmingly and the pound was introduced as the sole currency of Gibraltar, initially in the form of British coins and banknotes. In 1898, sterling coin was made sole legal tender, although the Spanish peseta continued in circulation until the

Spanish Civil War The Spanish Civil War () was a military conflict fought from 1936 to 1939 between the Republican faction (Spanish Civil War), Republicans and the Nationalist faction (Spanish Civil War), Nationalists. Republicans were loyal to the Left-wing p ...

. Since 1927, Gibraltar has issued its own banknotes and, since 1988, its own coins. Gibraltar decimalised in 1971 at the same time as the UK, replacing the system of 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence with one of 1 pound = 100 (new) pence.

Relationship with the British pound

The since repealed Currency Notes Act 1934, conferred on the Government of Gibraltar the right to print its own notes. Notes issued are either backed by

Bank of England The Bank of England is the central bank of the United Kingdom and the model on which most modern central banks have been based. Established in 1694 to act as the Kingdom of England, English Government's banker and debt manager, and still one ...

notes at a rate of one to one, or can be backed by securities issued by the Government of Gibraltar. Although Gibraltar notes are denominated in "pounds sterling", they are not

legal tender Legal tender is a form of money that Standard of deferred payment, courts of law are required to recognize as satisfactory payment in court for any monetary debt. Each jurisdiction determines what is legal tender, but essentially it is anything ...

anywhere in the United Kingdom. Gibraltar's coins are the same weight, size and metal as British coins, although the designs are different, and they are occasionally found in circulation across Britain. Under the Currency Notes Act 2011 the notes and coins issued by the Government of Gibraltar are legal tender and current coin within Gibraltar. British coins and Bank of England notes also circulate in Gibraltar and are universally accepted and interchangeable with Gibraltarian issues.

Coins

In 1988, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 20 and 50 pence and 1 pound were introduced which bore specific designs for and the name of Gibraltar. They were the same sizes and compositions as the corresponding British coins, with 2-pound coins introduced in 1999. A new coin of 5 pounds was issued in 2010 with the inscription "Elizabeth II · Queen of Gibraltar". This issue caused controversy in Spain, where the title of King of Gibraltar historically corresponds to the

Crown of Castile The Crown of Castile was a medieval polity in the Iberian Peninsula that formed in 1230 as a result of the third and definitive union of the crowns and, some decades later, the parliaments of the kingdoms of Kingdom of Castile, Castile and Kingd ...

. In 2025 the Gibraltar National Mint issued the first 12-sided £1 coin, which reportedly saw high demand among collectors. The £2 coin has featured a new design every year since its introduction, as it depicts each of the 12

Labours of Hercules The Labours of Hercules or Labours of Heracles (, , ) are a series of tasks carried out by Heracles, the greatest of the Greek heroes, whose name was later romanised as Hercules. They were accomplished in the service of King Eurystheus. The ep ...

Tercentenary edition

In 2004 the Government of Gibraltar minted a new edition of its coins to commemorate the tercentenary of British Gibraltar (1704–2004).

2005 series

In 2005, the Government of Gibraltar issued a new series of coins featuring the designs of the Tercentenary issues, being placed on different denominations. A£5 coin was issued for this series, depicting the

Rock of Gibraltar The Rock of Gibraltar (from the Arabic name Jabal Ṭāriq , meaning "Mountain of Tariq ibn Ziyad, Tariq") is a monolithic limestone mountain high dominating the western entrance to the Mediterranean Sea. It is situated near the end of a nar ...

Banknotes

At the outbreak of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, Gibraltar was forced to issue banknotes to prevent paying out sterling or gold. These notes were issued under emergency wartime legislation, Ordinance 10 of 1914. At first, the typeset notes were signed by hand by Treasurer Greenwood, though he later used stamps. The notes bore the embossed stamp of the Anglo-Egyptian Bank Ltd. and circulated alongside British Territory notes. The 1914 notes were issued in denominations of 2/-, 10/-, £1, £5 and £50. The 2/- and £50 notes were not continued when a new series of notes was introduced in 1927. The 10/- note was replaced by the 50p coin during the process of decimalisation. In 1975, £10 and £20 notes were introduced, followed by £50 in 1986. The £1 note was discontinued in 1988. In 1995, a new series of notes was introduced which, for the first time, bore the words "pounds sterling" rather than just "pounds". The government of Gibraltar introduced a new series of banknotes beginning with the £10 and £50 notes issued on 8 July 2010. On 11 May 2011, the £5, £20 and £100 notes were issued. In 2021, the government of Gibraltar introduced a new series of banknotes in a reduced size, closely matching that of the banknotes of the Bank of England. The first note, the £5 was issued into circulation in 2021.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

Banknotes of Gibraltar: Catalog of Gibraltar Shillings and Pounds

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gibraltar Pound Currencies of the British Empire Currencies of Gibraltar Pound, Gibraltar Currencies of dependent territories of the United Kingdom Fixed exchange rate Currencies introduced in 1898 Circulating currencies Currencies of Europe Pound (currency)