A short history of the British pound

After the historic United Kingdom vote to leave the European Union, the pound suffered one of its worst days ever - falling to a 30-year low. More than $2.5 trillion was wiped from global equity values in the days that followed the result.

The British currency is not new to turmoil, having had a bumpy ride over its 1,200 year existence.

The timeline below charts the major events that defined a currency which is still the fourth most traded in the world.

Ancient Rome
The British pound has its origins in continental Europe under the Roman era. Its name derives from the Latin word "poundus" meaning "weight".

The £ symbol comes from an ornate L in Libra.

Anglo-Saxon era
The pound was a unit of currency as early as 775AD in Anglo-Saxon England, equivalent to 1 pound weight of silver. This was a vast fortune in the 8th century.

928
Athelstan, the first King of England adopted sterling as the first national currency. He set up mints around the country to supply the growing nation.

One pound could buy you 15 cows.

1694
England's naval defeat by France in the 1690 Battle of Beachy Head led to King William III establishing the Bank of England to fund his continued war with France.

£1.2m was raised in 12 days; half of this was used to rebuild the navy.

1717
The United Kingdom defined sterling's value in terms of gold rather than silver for the first time.

Sir Isaac Newton, as Master of the Mint, set the gold price of £4.25 per fine ounce that lasted two hundred years, except during the Napoleonic wars when gold cash payments were suspended.

1800s
The official gold standard came in when Germany adopted it, encouraging mass international trade for the first time.

The idea was that a nation must back its money in circulation with the equivalent in gold reserves.

1914
The United Kingdom suspended the gold standard in 1914 so it could support its war efforts.

The country borrowed heavily and suffered high inflation during World War I. It was forced to devalue the pound considerably towards the end of the war.

£1 equivalent to $4.70.

1925
Winston Churchill returned sterling to the gold standard in 1925 at the pre-war rate of £4.86 to the dollar.

£1 equivalent to $4.86.

1931
Sterling came off the gold standard and the pound promptly dropped considerably.

£1 equivalent to $3.69.

1934
The United States devalued the dollar in 1933, and the pound rose to its highest ever value.

£1 equivalent to $5.

1940
A significant drop in the value of the pound with the outbreak of WWII led the British government to peg the value of the pound to the dollar.

£1 equivalent to $4.03.

1967

Another crisis in the British economy and the government announced a devaluing of the pound by over 14%.

£1 equivalent to $2.40.

1976
High unemployment and inflation forces Britain to request an IMF loan.

£1 equivalent to $1.7.

1979
Turning point for the pound. Exchange controls were lifted, and for the first time it was allowed to float.

£1 equivalent to $2.

1985
International intervention in the currency markets to depreciate the dollar drives down the value of the pound.

£1 equivalent to less than $1.2.

1992
The UK exits the Exchange Rate Mechanism seeing a sharp decline in the value of the pound by over 20%.

£1 equivalent to $1.5.

2001
After recovering in the 90s the dot-com bubble burst sees the pound fall again by 20%.

£1 equivalent to $1.4.

2008
Lehman Brothers demise triggers the global financial crisis and the pound falls 30%.

£1 equivalent to $1.4.

2016
UK votes to leave the EU. The pound suffers one of its worst days ever - falling to a 30-year low.

£1 equivalent to $1.33.