Gambian pound these were minted by the Royal Mint in denominations of 1, 3 and 6 pence, 1, 2 and 4 shillings, with 8 shillings added in 1970. All coins had Queen Elizabeth II's portrait on the obverse. The 8 Shillings coin of the Gambia is the only example of this denomination ever minted. With the exception of the Hippopotamus, the reverse designs of the pre-decimal coins were reused on the Gambia's decimal coins. On October 5, 1964, new banknotes were introduced by the Gambia Currency Board in denominations of 10 shillings, 1 and 5 pounds. All notes had a sailing boat
Non-decimal currency said to have become the first decimalized currency when Peter the Great established the ratio 1 ruble = 100 kopecks in 1701. The Japanese were in some sense earlier calculating with the silver momme and its decimal subunits - but then the momme was not a coin but a unit of weight equivalent to 3.75 g: accounting was by weight of silver. The British pound sterling was the last major currency to be decimalized, on 15 February 1971. The Maltese waited just one year (1972) before following suit and Nigeria followed in 1973. An early proposal for decimalizing the pound