What IS a Pound Sterling?

Question

I know it’s the UK currency but if you look at a ten pound note it says on it “I Promise to Pay the Bearer on demand the sum of ten pounds”.

If I walked into the Bank of England with a tenner and asked for ten pounds, what would I get? Apart from some funny looks.

In: 1

Answer 1

It was originally a pound of sterling silver. But money hasn’t been tied to anything real in a long time.