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
British currency in the Middle East and called δεκάρα in Greek and the -piastre coin was equal to 20 para and called εικοσάρα. The introduction of the British currency into Cyprus was controversial from its inception in 1879 as technically the island remained a province of the Ottoman Empire and the right to issue currency within the Ottoman Empire rested solely with the Ottoman Sultan. A question on the legality of introducing the pound in Cyprus was raised by the British Member of Parliament, Mr. Thomson Hankey, in the United Kingdom parliament in 1879, but concerns were dismissed by the British government, and they ceased to