why is it that in england(uk), they use the letter L to denote their currency which is Pounds, why not lbs. or
552602
The pound was originally the value of one pound (weight) of sterling silver (hence "pound sterling"). The sign for the pound is the pound sign, £ (or rarely just "L"). The pound sign is derived from the original black-letter "L", as the original duodecimal currency system (pounds, shillings and pence) used the abbreviation 'LSD' (librae, solidi, denarii), libra being the Latin word for "pound". The ISO 4217 currency code is GBP (Great Britain Pound). \n\nSo actually both L and P are used.  £ is used most everywhere, but banks and other financial institutions use the GBP abbreviation (saving having to use special characters).\n\nAnd regarding the question of the symbol for U.S. Dollars ($) the sign is attested in business correspondence between British North America and Mexico in the 1770s as referring to the Spanish-Mexican piastre. The piastre was known as "Spanish dollar" in British North America, and in 1785, it was adopted as U.S. currency, together with both the term "dollar" and the $ sign.\n\nThe sign's ultimate origins are not certain. The most widely accepted explanation, according to the U.S. Bureau of Engraving and Printing, is that "$" is a corruption of the letters "PS" or "Ps" (for 'peso' or 'piastre' - especially the former, as each letter could represent each syllable of "Pé-So") written over each other in Spanish. Eventually, the 'P' was reduced to a vertical line.\n\nThe ISO currency code for U.S. Dollars is USD (again to avoid special characters).
804597
Usually POUND (when it refers to weight) is abbreviated "lb.", although I have sometimes seen "lbs." The Latin word for pound is LIBRA, and that word was once used in English when referring to money. Apparently our word "pound" comes from the Latin word "pondo" which means weight; the Latin expression seems to have been "libra pondo" for "a pound in weight" (as opposed to a pound in money). The Italian monetary unit, the lira, as well as the British pound were coins that were once equivalent to a pound of a precious metal. Both are abbreviated with a fancy capital L (not followed by a period). The story of the terminology can be found in the OXFORD ENGLISH DICTIONARY, and also (under pound, libra and in the appendix) in the AMERICAN HERITAGE DICTIONARY.
47203
A pound is always written as "lb" to prevent confusion with pound (money) It is very old, traced back to the Roman "libra" (which explains its abreviation!). It was defined in England since Ethelred the Unready (968-1016). In fact, a pound (money) was originally a pound (weight) of silver, and the symbol for pound (money) is a stylised L.
533220
By increasing the demand of their currency.  For example, if UK is growing, and there are many people want to invest there, they will buy many poundsterling (thus increase the demand) and increase the value of the currency.  Vice versa, if the economy decrease, people will tend to sell their poundsterling and exchange it to other currency, so that they can invest in another country.  This will decrease the demand of poundsterling and decreases its value.
264457
That's not exactly true.  Europe has adopted the Euro which is used by all European countries, however Great Britain which is part of the European union has elected to stay with the pound, for now.
657404
LB (or lb) is the abbreviation for the word pound.  It is the same unit of measurement.  1 kilogram = 2.20462262 pound
452919
i'm not sure how accurate this is but apparently the dollar ($) symbol originally started off as a letter "U" superimposed onto a letter "S" to indicate that the currency was from the US and over time the bottom of the U was dropped off as the dollar was adopted by other countries so it was just left as an S with 2 vertical lines through it.\ni'm not too sure about the other currency symbols though.
567596
I think only the British say grand. In some other countries people use a different words. For example, Czechs use "litr" (liter) for 1000 and other words for smaller amounts. So a Czech wouldn't say 5 grand, he'd say 5 liters.\n\nIn Iceland people don't use anything like this, they say 5 thousand. I'm pretty sure it's like that in most countries in Europe, or they may have their own slang instead of "grand".
33735
The Latin word libra describes a Roman unit of weight similar to a pound, and the abbreviation “lb” for the unit of weight and the signs £ and ₤ (crossed-out Ls) for the currency derived from this. The word “pound” comes from the Latin pendere, “to weigh”; Latin libra means “scales, balances”.
748755
Because the US Dollar is more widely held than any other currency in thr world.  The people compilying the currency list know that a large number of people who check the list will only be interested in the Dollar, so they put it first.
370894
England for a start. We use feet, inches, pounds, miles and stone, we're rather resistant to the metric system. America uses some of it I believe with things liek miles and lbs but i think slowly they're turning to metric more and more. The rest of Europe is very strictly metric, leading the way is France
976676
The pound, was in fact a pound of sterling silver. It took a certain amount of various coins to equal the weight (and value) of a pound of silver. I was serving in the military in the U.K. when the they went to the decimal system and actually operated on the old system for over a year. It takes 12 pence to make a shilling ("bob") and 20 shillings to make a pound (240 pence to the pound. A farthing was a fourth of penny, a half-crown was 2 shillings and 6 pence a crown then equaled 5 shillings. A guinea was a gold version of the pound, but due to increases in the price of gold could be worth as much as 30 shillings.
700545
lbs means pounds, a unit used in english system in finding weight, in metric system the unit is kilograms.
561026
It boils down to "what can that currency buy?" The pound has always been very strong vs the dollar. It has much to do with the economy of both nations, and what each is doing to keep its finances in check.\nThe UK economy is strong, has influence in the world, and I doubt that Mr.Blair is running a Trillion dollar deficit.
989091
It's the symbol for the "pound" used in Great Britain.
335708
In many languages, at least in the vernacular, the word "English" is often interchangeable with "British".\n\nAnd the British confuse the issue with so many countries and names for them. We refer to Britain when we mean United Kingdom for instance. (For those who don't know, Great Britain includes England, Scotland and Wales, while the U.K. includes those three as well as Northern Ireland.)
217450
British Pounds Sterling is the currency of Great Britain, but in London now, you can also use Euros in many shops to buy stuff. Euros are probably not the kind of currency you can use for things like pubs, clubs, taxis and trains. Its mainly retail shops that allow purchases with Euros.\n\nIn addition, in some shops you can also use dollars but these are rare. Harrods for example, gives you the option to pay in US Dollars.