The Pound Sterling is the world’s oldest currency still in use. It’s an hard currency. Origins go back to the Anglo-Saxon England.

Its value was equal to 240 silver pennies or better to one pound silver.

The King Offa of Mercia (757-796) introduced the silver penny copying the currency system of Charlemagne’s Frankish Empire. In fact also in the Carolingian empire, 240 pennies weighed 1 pound (the Charlemagne’s libra).

The penny swiftly spread throughout Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and became the standard coin of what was to become England.

Until 1158 pennies were in fine silver. Then King Henry II introduced a new coniage with a little less silver.

During the reigns of Henry VIII and of Edward VI the silver coinage was drastically debased. In 1526 a troy pound was redefined as 5,760 grains (373 g).

Few decades later, during which a new gold coniage and an unofficial gold standard system appeared, in 1694, the bank of England was founded, followed one year later by the bank of Scotland.

This is the point. The fine line between banks and money. You know: banks are not mushrooms. They don’t grow up by themselves.

Why a fucking bank now? Well.

The bank of England was established to raise funds for the King William III’s war (a member State of the European-wide coalition) against France. And these are the classified papers on the Pound Sterling. Click here.

The war was better known as the Nine Years War (1688-1697). As already stated the main actors were France and the European-wide coalition (of which the Anglo-Dutch King William III belong). At the end due to the victory of France, the French King Louis XIV became the most powerful monarch in Europe. He was so powerful that he was a menace to everyone.

But let take a step backward to the foundation of the Bank of England. Before the Nine Years War.

James II, the just ascended king to the throne of England was not the legitimate heir to the England throne. Moreover he was Catholic. You know, after more or less two centuries the idea of going back to the Roman Catholicism was not welcome. Therefore the immortal seven asked to William III of Holland, one of the king of England’s relatives, to replace the king of England. And so William III of Holland replaced James II.

And here, a new character appeared: William Paterson. This gentleman was trying to collect funds for financing his project: the “Darien scheme“. A sort of double project: to found a bank for financing the “Darien scheme”. And so we arrive to the creation of the Bank of England.

Here we go. With the Bank of England the issuing of paper money started.

The Pound Sterling was the official currency not only in England but also in several English colonies and dominions.

I could go on infinitely on Paterson, catholics, jews, the Mercer’s chapel and the Queen.

But this is not my purpose. If you are interested in the GB history you can ask to some historiographer. Maybe you can watch CSI: Miami to collect hints and reconstructing events.

The foundation of the Bank of England was the beginning of the fiat currency in England: the Pound Sterling. The beginning of a practice still in use.

So even in England, the pretext of the war, was the way used for establishing a flat currency.

Let me conclude with few considerations about the Pound Sterling.

If you have already read the post about the Forex Scam you should know the Bretton Woods agreements.

In that circumstances the USA pegged the Pound Sterling to the U.S. Dollar at a rate of 1£ = 4.03$. It was in 1940.

Actually the Pound Sterling is exchanged at 1£:1.68$. It seems the Pound Sterling has lost power against the dollar during the last seventy years.

And not only against the Dollar.

As I love gold and silver let me do some other comparisons. In 1940 the Dollar exchanged 35$ for one Gold Ounce and for 8.68 Pound Sterling. Today a Gold Ounce is exchange with 1252 Dollars and for 745.611 Pound Sterling.

I’m not a genius in math, but if mathematics is an exact science the Pound Sterling devaluated of about 8490%.The Dollar devaluation has been of 3477%.

Is it a plan to level out the currencies power?

Be aware, have plans.

Matt