Currency

I've always been intrigued by foreign currency. So, for those of you who haven't seen them before, here are some of the bills and coins I've been using.

The coin at the top right is a two pence piece, which is as much a nuisance as our penny only about 1.5X the size (they also have a penny that's not pictured here), the hexagon-shaped coin next to it is a twenty pence piece, and behind that there's a 50 pence coin. All other coins values are visible, but there is also a ten pence piece (also not pictured here) that looks similar to the 5 pence, only slightly larger, and a two pound coin which I haven't come across yet.

The pound and two pound coins are about one and a half times the thickness of the other coins, and have inscriptions on the sides. The one pound coin has various inscriptions, with the most common being, "DECUS ET TUTAMEN," which means "An ornament and Safeguard."

There are various two pound coins, some made with an outer ring of metal different from that in the center, and the inscription on the side says, "STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS," which, according to Wikipedia, is a reference "from a letter by Sir Isaac Newton to Robert Hooke, in which he describes how his work was built on the knowledge of those that had gone before him."

There are also various commemorative two-pound coins that typically have the reason for commemoration inscribed on the sides.

Here are the 5, 10, and 20 pound bill, including the penny and 10 pence coin, as well as others. The bills have security features including holograms, watermarks, and security strips running through the bill itself. While it appears that the newer bills are made of a more durable plastic paper, it's very hard for me to tell them apart.