Saint Helena pound

Saint Helena pound
ISO 4217 code	SHP
Government	Government of Saint Helena
Website	www.sainthelena.gov.sh
User(s)	St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha (only in Saint Helena and Ascension Island), alongside Pound sterling
Inflation	3.2%
Source	The World Factbook, 1997 est.
Pegged with	pound sterling at par
Subunit
1/100	penny
Symbol	£
Plural
penny	pence
Coins	1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 pence, £1, £2
Banknotes	£5, £10, £20

The Saint Helena pound (also called simply "pound") is the currency of the Atlantic islands of Saint Helena and Ascension, which are constituents of the British overseas territory of Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. It is fixed at parity with the pound sterling and is subdivided into 100 pence.

Tristan da Cunha, the third part of the territory, uses Pound sterling rather than the St Helena pound. However, there are occasionally commemorative coins minted for the island.^[1]

History

Initially, the British Pound Sterling circulated on Saint Helena, with the pound subdivided into 20 shillings, and each shilling into 12 pence.

This was supplemented by occasional local issues of paper currencies. One coin, a copper halfpenny, was also struck specifically for use in the islands in 1821, which intermingled British coinage. The notes were denominated in Pounds and Shillings and valued to the British Pound at par.

Prior to February 1961, the South African pound, which was then equal in value to sterling, was also accepted on the island, but this stopped with the introduction of the new decimal South African Rand, such that one rand was worth only ten shillings sterling.

In 1976, the St. Helena government began issuing new, decimal denominated banknotes for use on the island, with the introduction of circulation coins intended for use on St. Helena as well as Ascension beginning in 1984. The use of these coins and notes was extended from St. Helena and Ascension island later on to Tristan da Cunha as well.

For a more general history of currency in the South Atlantic region, see The Sterling Currency in the South Atlantic and the Antarctic.

Coins

The first coins were first introduced in 1821, in which copper Half Pennies were issued for Saint Helena by the East India Trading Company and these were used for a majority of the Company's influence in the area. During this period the island was also used as a penal ground for high-ranking political prisoners, including Napoleon Bonaparte. Circulating coinage for St. Helena would not be issued again for another 163 years, in 1984.

Prior to 1984, both Saint Helena and Ascension Island had issued non circulating commemorative coins but officially used British circulation coins. The St. Helena issued banknotes circulated alongside British coins and banknotes.

In 1984, circulation coins were first introduced in the names of St. Helena and Ascension in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10 and 50 pence and 1 pound. The coin series was designed by engraiver and coin designer Michael Hibbit. All of the coins are the same size and composition as the corresponding British coins and valued with the British Pound at par. Each coin depicts flora and fauna unique to the islands. Both the coins and notes of St. Helena and Ascension are also in use on the Island of Tristan Da Cunha, along with British coins and notes. It is not included on the series by name as the Tristan da Cunha chain was originally not politically incorporated into the St. Helena and Ascension Colony at the time of the currency's official release. Later issues have also yet to include Tristan da Cunha's name as an incorporated territory. Tristan da Cunha still considers the British Pound as its official currency.

There are also non circulating commemoratives and unofficial coin issues separately under the name of Tristan da Cunha as well as the uninhabited Gough Island but are not recognised tender.

Queen Elizabeth's effigy was redesigned on most of the denominations in 1991, followed by the rest in 1998. Seven sided 20 pence coins were also first introduced in 1998, and older 5 and 10 pence were replaced by downsized issues featuring new animal designs that same year. However, the 50 pence was not actually downsized until 2003. Until that time the original, larger sized 50 Pence continued to circulate before being phased out. In 2002, Nickel-Brass 2 Pound coins were introduced to replace the note, and Bimetallic 2 pound coins were also first introduced to the islands the following year. The edge inscriptions of the 2 pound coins are (in capitals) "500th Anniversary" for the 2002 coin and "Loyal and Faithful" for the 2003 coin.

All circulation coins have on the obverse side a portrait of the head of Queen Elizabeth II, "Queen Elizabeth II", "St. Helena • Ascension" and the year written. Many of the commemorative coins over the years however only have written either "St. Helena" or "Ascension Island".

Some of the coin reverse designs have changed since 1984. The five pence pieces issued prior to 1998 showed the Saint Helena plover (the "wirebird", which is the national bird of St Helena), whilst the ten pence coins issued prior to 1998 showed orchids. The following table shows the current designs:

Depiction of St Helena and Ascension coinage (reverse side)
£0.01	£0.02	£0.05

Tuna	Donkey with firewood	"Jonathan" the giant tortoise
£0.10	£0.20	£0.50

Dolphin	Ebony	Green sea turtle
£1.00	£2.00

Sooty tern	Coat of arms of Saint Helena

Banknotes

St. Helena has had a very long history of its own currencies which have come and gone over extended up and down economic periods, especially in comparison to other British colonies.

From 1716, the Governor and Council of the Island of St Helena issued notes for 2½ and 5 shillings and 1 and 2 pounds. These were issued up until the late 18th century.

The next issue of notes occurred sometime after 1917. It was produced by the St Helena Currency Board in denominations of 5, 20 and 40 shillings.

In 1976, the currency board of the Government of Saint Helena began issuing 1- and 5-pound notes, followed by 50-pence and 10-pound notes in 1979.^[2]

The 50 pence and 1 pound notes were withdrawn and replaced by coinciding coins in 1984, with 20-pound notes first being introduced in 1986.

A redesign of the 5-pound note was introduced in 1988.

In 2004, a new series of 5, 10, and 20-pound notes was introduced featuring a redesign and newer security features, produced by De La Rue Banknote and Engraving Company. At the issuance of this new series, the 1-pound note was discontinued and withdrawn from circulation.

Exchange rates

The latest exchange rates are published by the Bank of St Helena. Indicative rates for other currencies can be obtained as follows:

Current SHP exchange rates
From Google Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From XE:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From OANDA:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From fxtop.com:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD
From Currency.Wiki:	AUD CAD CHF EUR GBP HKD JPY USD

References

Notes

↑ Tristan da Cunha Coins
↑ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Saint Helena". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.

Sources

Krause, Chester L., and Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
Pick, Albert (1994). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues. Colin R. Bruce II and Neil Shafer (editors) (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.

External links

Numismondo St Helena banknotes (historic and current)

Banknotes of the pound sterling

England and Wales	Bank of England

Scotland	Bank of Scotland The Royal Bank of Scotland Clydesdale Bank

Northern Ireland	Bank of Ireland Danske Bank First Trust Bank Ulster Bank

British Crown Dependencies	Guernsey pound Jersey pound Manx pound

British Overseas Territories (at parity with Sterling)	Gibraltar pound Falkland Islands pound Saint Helena pound

See also	Pound sterling Coins of the pound sterling Economy of the United Kingdom Sterling area

Currencies of Africa

North	Algerian dinar Egyptian pound Euro Plazas de soberanía Libyan dinar Mauritanian ouguiya Moroccan dirham Sahrawi peseta (unrecognized) Sudanese pound Tunisian dinar

Central	Angolan kwanza Burundian franc Central African CFA franc Cameroon Central African Republic Chad Republic of the Congo Equatorial Guinea Gabon Congolese franc Rwandan franc

East	Comorian franc Djiboutian franc Eritrean nakfa Ethiopian birr Kenyan shilling Seychellois rupee Somali shilling Somaliland shilling (unrecognized) South Sudanese pound Tanzanian shilling Ugandan shilling

South	Botswana pula British pound sterling Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha Zimbabwe Euro French Southern and Antarctic Lands Mayotte Réunion Zimbabwe Lesotho loti Malagasy ariary Malawian kwacha Mauritian rupee Mozambican metical Namibian dollar Saint Helena pound South African rand Lesotho Namibia Swaziland Zimbabwe Swazi lilangeni U.S. dollar Zimbabwe Zambian kwacha Zimbabwean dollar (defunct due to hyperinflation since April 2009) Zimbabwean Bond Coins (since 18 December 2014 - denominated in U.S. Cents)

West	Cape Verdean escudo Euro Canary Islands Madeira Gambian dalasi Ghanaian cedi Guinean franc Liberian dollar Nigerian naira São Tomé and Príncipe dobra Sierra Leonean leone West African CFA franc Benin Burkina Faso Guinea-Bissau Ivory Coast Mali Niger Senegal Togo

Currencies named pound or similar

Current	Pound sterling: (Alderney pound • Falkland Islands pound • Gibraltar pound • Guernsey pound • Jersey pound • Manx pound • Saint Helena pound) Egyptian pound Lebanese pound South Sudanese pound Sudanese pound Syrian pound Turkish lira

Local alternative currency	Bristol Pound Brixton Pound Lewes Pound Stroud Pound Totnes Pound

Defunct	Anglo-Saxon pound Australian pound Bahamian pound Bermudian pound Biafran pound British West African pound Canadian pound Connecticut pound Cypriot pound Delaware pound Fijian pound French livre French colonial livre Gambian pound Georgia pound Ghanaian pound Haitian livre Irish pound Israeli pound Italian lira Jamaican pound Japanese government-issued Oceanian Pound Libyan pound Livre tournois Lombardo-Venetian pound Luccan pound Malawian pound Maltese pound Maltese lira Maryland pound Massachusetts pound New Brunswick pound New France livre New Guinean pound New Hampshire pound New Jersey pound New York pound New Zealand pound Newfoundland pound Nigerian pound North Carolina pound Nova Scotian pound Oceanian pound Ottoman lira Palestine pound Papal lira Paris livre Parman lira Pennsylvania pound Pound Scots Prince Edward Island pound Rhode Island pound Rhodesian pound Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound Sammarinese lira Sardinian lira Solomon Islands pound South Carolina pound Southern Rhodesian pound South African pound South African Republic pound South West African pound Tongan pound Tuscan pound Vatican lira Virginia pound West Indian pound Western Samoan pound Zambian pound

See also	Dinar Pound sign Troy pound

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