Wow... I feel like I just arrived in Dublin after two stops, and you are saying we are done? And this is our last blog post... I wanted to do a blog post on something that somewhat wraps up my spectacular journey in Ireland, as the title says, then I thought, how about money? We used money wherever we went, so I thought it would be good to talk about money used in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. It took me awhile to figure out this coin is worth this much and that coin is worth that much; I wanted to be able to know the value of coins just by looking at it real fast, like how I can with the U.S. Dollar and Korean Won, but it hasn't happened yet...
I found out that the size doesn't have correlation with how much the coin or banknote is worth for. 2 euro coins are bigger than 1 euro coins, so you would think that the more value it has, the bigger it is, right? Incorrect. For cents, the size of 10 cent coin lies between 2 cent and 5 cent coins, 5 cent coin being the bigger one. Also, between 1 and 2 euro coins, on top of the size, the colors are different, too. For a 2 euro coin, silver goes around the edge and gold is inside the circle, versus with 1 euro coin, gold goes around the edge of the coin and the silver lies in the center of the circle. For banknote, the statement that bigger value means bigger size is true - 50 euro banknote is the bigger than and 5 euro banknote.
In Dublin, Galway, and Dingle, we used euro, which with currency is 1 euro equals 1.36 dollars. When we were in Belfast and Derry, what did we use? We used pound! 1 pound is equal to 1.68 dollar, so pound is more expensive than euro. In the Republic of Ireland where Dublin, Galway, and Dingle are located, the Euro (€) is used. The notes come in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10 and €5 denominations. They feature architectural styles from different periods in Europe's history. On the front of both series of euro banknotes, windows and doorways are show, which symbolize the European spirit of openness and cooperation. The bridges on the back symbolize communication between the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world. Other design elements include: name of the currency, euro, initials of the European Central Bank in five linguistic variants, the symbol © indicating copyright protection and the EU flag. Each banknote has the signature of either Willem F. Duisenberg, Jean-Claude Trichet or Mario Draghi – the first, second, and third Presidents of the European Central Bank respectively.
In Northern Ireland, the Pound, original name of Pound Sterling, is used, which is divided into one hundred pence (abbreviated as p - this is what we call cents). The currency is the same as that used in Great Britain but the 4 main retail banks each issue their own banknotes. English and Scottish banknotes are perfectly acceptable in Northern Ireland, but it might be difficult to use Northern Irish notes in Britain. The currency sign is the pound sign, originally ₤ with two cross-bars, then later it changed to a single cross-bar, £.
The coins in circulation are 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, 2 pounds. The notes (paper money) in circulation are £5, £10, £20, £50, and £100. When you write amounts of money in figures, the pound symbol £ is always shown in front of the figures. For example: 'three hundred pounds' would be '£300'. If an amount of money consists only of pence, you put the letter 'p' after the figures. For example: 20p is often pronounced "twenty pee" rather than "twenty pence". The singular of pence is "penny". If an amount of money consists of both pounds and pence, you write the pound symbol and separate the pounds and the pence. Also, you don’t write 'p' after the pence. For example: 'six pounds fifty pence' would be '£6.50'. When saying an amount of money that consists of pounds and pence, you don’t usually say the word 'pence' but just say the pounds and number for pence. For example: '£6.50' would be said 'six pounds fifty'.
http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/british-money.html
I found out that the size doesn't have correlation with how much the coin or banknote is worth for. 2 euro coins are bigger than 1 euro coins, so you would think that the more value it has, the bigger it is, right? Incorrect. For cents, the size of 10 cent coin lies between 2 cent and 5 cent coins, 5 cent coin being the bigger one. Also, between 1 and 2 euro coins, on top of the size, the colors are different, too. For a 2 euro coin, silver goes around the edge and gold is inside the circle, versus with 1 euro coin, gold goes around the edge of the coin and the silver lies in the center of the circle. For banknote, the statement that bigger value means bigger size is true - 50 euro banknote is the bigger than and 5 euro banknote.
In Dublin, Galway, and Dingle, we used euro, which with currency is 1 euro equals 1.36 dollars. When we were in Belfast and Derry, what did we use? We used pound! 1 pound is equal to 1.68 dollar, so pound is more expensive than euro. In the Republic of Ireland where Dublin, Galway, and Dingle are located, the Euro (€) is used. The notes come in €500, €200, €100, €50, €20, €10 and €5 denominations. They feature architectural styles from different periods in Europe's history. On the front of both series of euro banknotes, windows and doorways are show, which symbolize the European spirit of openness and cooperation. The bridges on the back symbolize communication between the people of Europe and between Europe and the rest of the world. Other design elements include: name of the currency, euro, initials of the European Central Bank in five linguistic variants, the symbol © indicating copyright protection and the EU flag. Each banknote has the signature of either Willem F. Duisenberg, Jean-Claude Trichet or Mario Draghi – the first, second, and third Presidents of the European Central Bank respectively.
In Northern Ireland, the Pound, original name of Pound Sterling, is used, which is divided into one hundred pence (abbreviated as p - this is what we call cents). The currency is the same as that used in Great Britain but the 4 main retail banks each issue their own banknotes. English and Scottish banknotes are perfectly acceptable in Northern Ireland, but it might be difficult to use Northern Irish notes in Britain. The currency sign is the pound sign, originally ₤ with two cross-bars, then later it changed to a single cross-bar, £.
The coins in circulation are 1 penny, 2 pence, 5 pence, 10 pence, 20 pence, 50 pence, 1 pound, 2 pounds. The notes (paper money) in circulation are £5, £10, £20, £50, and £100. When you write amounts of money in figures, the pound symbol £ is always shown in front of the figures. For example: 'three hundred pounds' would be '£300'. If an amount of money consists only of pence, you put the letter 'p' after the figures. For example: 20p is often pronounced "twenty pee" rather than "twenty pence". The singular of pence is "penny". If an amount of money consists of both pounds and pence, you write the pound symbol and separate the pounds and the pence. Also, you don’t write 'p' after the pence. For example: 'six pounds fifty pence' would be '£6.50'. When saying an amount of money that consists of pounds and pence, you don’t usually say the word 'pence' but just say the pounds and number for pence. For example: '£6.50' would be said 'six pounds fifty'.
http://www.studyenglishtoday.net/british-money.html