Money plays a major role in each of our lives on our day-to-day lives in various forms, be it for business, for education or anything else in terms for purchase.
There are various forms of currencies used across the globe. They have separate names as well as separate values. Few nations have currencies like rupee, dollar, pound and few have taka, yuan.
Whenever someone is travelling from one nation to another and their currencies differ, they are required to exchange it into the form used in the nation.
The price of one currency when compared to another helps in determining the nation’s economic status and health, which is directly related to the well-being of the people residing in the country.
Pound vs Dollar
The difference between pound and dollar is that a pound has more value as compared to dollar. Dollar is used in the Western countries like Australia, Hong Kong etc. whereas Pound is used in central countries like Great Britain, Sudan and Syria.
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Pound was the word, which was used to signify the weight of silver in the past. The word itself is derived from the Latin word ‘Libra’ which meant a unit of the account of the Roman Empire. In the history of Pound we see that in Great Britain, pound was used to weigh the silver which was used to make a coin or ‘currency’.
Dollar is represented with the ‘$’ symbol. The term originated in the year of 1520 from Bohemia, when the country had just started manufacturing coins of silver in Joachimsthal. Generally 1$ signifies 100 cents. Dollar is the common currency used in countries like New Zealand, Taiwan, The United States, Hong Kong, Namibia and many other western countries.
Comparison Table
| Parameters of Comparison | Pound | Dollar |
|---|---|---|
| Symbol of the Currency | £ | $ |
| Value in rupees | 1 £=102.54 Indian Rupee | 1$= 74.76 Indian Rupee |
| Place of Origin | Anglo- Saxon England | Joachimsthal in Bohemia |
| Year of Origin | 775AD | 1520 |
| Countries they are used in | Great Britain, Sudan, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt | New Zealand, Taiwan, The United States, Hong Kong, Namibia |
What is Pound?
Pound is one of the oldest modes of currencies, which has its roots in the European Continent. The term originated as result of Charlemagne’s currency reform in the Empire of Frankish.
The literal word can have a direct reference from the Latin word “pondus’ which means a unit of weight.
This is was afterwards taken to Great Britain, where it was considered as the value of a pound of silver, or what we can refer to as ‘weight of silver’.
The first ever pound coin appeared under the reign of Henry VII in the year of 1489.
The pound notes started being circulated in England in 1694, shortly after the foundation of The Bank of England.
After decimalisation in the year of 1971, 1 pound is divided into 100 pence. The singular of pence is ‘penny’ and the symbol of the latter is ‘p’.
Pound has both coins as well as banknotes or paper currency. The bank notes available currently are 5 pound note, 10 pound note, 20 pound note and 50 pound note.
Moreover, there are 1 pound banknotes. But they are found very rarely as they are printed only in Scotland.
There is a very interesting fact about Pound. Near about in 980 AD, one pound was enough to but approximately 15 cattle.
What is Dollar?
Dollar is basically a general name which is the name of more than 20 currencies.
The list includes the Australian Dollar, Singapore Dollar, Taiwan Dollar, Jamaican Dollar, New Taiwan Dollar, Hong Kong Dollar, Canadian Dollar and many more.
The origin of this currency can be traced back to the year 1520, 15th January. The Kingdom of Bohemia began manufacturing coins made up of silver, in the local area of Joachimsthal.
The coins were initially named after the town and were called Joachimsthaler. Later on Joachimsthaler shorten into thaler or taler.
There are seven denominations of banknotes for Dollar. They are 1, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 and 100. Since the year 1956, all the banknotes have a printed motto on each of them- “In God We Trust”.
The Dollar notes for better longevity are not made up of paper, but are made by using cotton– linen blend.
Single dollar banknotes has a durability of just 18 months whereas 20 dollar notes are circulated for 2 years on an average rate. However, banknotes of 50 and 100 Dollars stay in circulation for about eight years.
After the adoption of the “Coinage Act”, the first silver dollars were issued in 1794.
The decree was associated with the establishment of the first American National Mint and assisted in setting dollar as the reference unit for the whole nation.
Also, there are numerous acts which have been passed, affecting the amount and type of metal which are supposed to be used in the coins of US.
There is no specific definition, but what is the closet one we have lies in the Section 5116, paragraph b, subsection 2 of the United States Code Title 31 which states, “The Secretary [of the Treasury] shall sell silver under conditions the Secretary considers appropriate for at least $1.292929292 a fine troy ounce.”
Main Differences Between Pound and Dollar
- Pound is used in the central countries whereas Dollar is used in Western Countries.
- Pound has more monetary value than that of Dollar.
- The word Pound originated from the Latin word meaning of ‘Libra’; whereas Dollar was adapted as English from the Dutch origin word ‘Daler’.
- Pound is represented by ‘£’. Dollar is represented by ‘$’.
- Pound is the currency of the Central Countries whereas Dollar is the currency of the Western Countries.
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1057521999800398
- https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1062940804000038
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Chara Yadav holds MBA in Finance. Her goal is to simplify finance-related topics. She has worked in finance for about 25 years. She has held multiple finance and banking classes for business schools and communities. Read more at her bio page.
