Coins of the pound sterling coins' designs. As of 31 March 2016, there were an estimated 30.14 billion coins circulating in the United Kingdom. The first decimal coins were circulated in 1968. These were the five pence (5p) and ten pence (10p), and had values of one shilling (1/-) and two shillings (2/-), respectively, under the pre-decimal £sd system. The decimal coins are minted in copper-plated steel (previously bronze), nickel-plated steel, cupronickel and nickel-brass. The two-pound coins, and, as from 28 March 2017 the new one-pound coins, are bimetallic. The coins are discs, except for the twenty pence and fifty pence pieces, both of which
Pound sterling English traders stipulated to be paid in pounds of the "Easterlings", which was contracted to "'sterling". For further discussion of the etymology of "sterling", see sterling silver. The currency sign for the pound is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar (as on sterling bank notes), though a version with a double cross-bar (₤) is also sometimes seen. This symbol derives from medieval Latin documents; the Roman words "libra", "solidus", and "denarius" (£sd) referred to pounds, shillings and pence in the British pre-decimal (duodecimal) currency system and the black-letter "L" was the abbreviation for "libra", the basic Roman