British pound symbol
The pound sterling symbol is £ — one of the oldest currency marks still in daily use, and the symbol of a pound in prices from London corner shops to global finance pages. Tap the big card to copy the pound symbol itself, or take a ready-formatted amount below; the rest of the page covers the gbp symbol rules, how to type £ on any keyboard, and how the sign got its shape.
Forms of the sign
The modern pounds symbol carries one crossbar; older print used two. Both below copy correctly — the double-bar character is its own Unicode point, today filed as the lira sign, but historically the symbol of pound sterling in fine print:
Ready-formatted amounts
Where the £ shape comes from
£ is a decorated capital L — for the Latin libra, a pound weight of silver. That is the whole story of the british pound symbol in one line: the unit was literally a pound of sterling silver, “sterling” being the name of the silver pennies it was counted in. The symbol for british pound currency therefore predates the country it now serves — scribes were writing the crossed L for libra centuries before modern Britain existed. As a currency symbol of british pound identity it is unusually stable: banknotes, price tags and the ISO code GBP all still carry the same crossed L.
How to type £
| Where | How |
|---|---|
| UK keyboard | Shift + 3 — the £ has its own key position. |
| Windows (any layout) | Hold Alt and type 0163 on the numeric keypad. |
| US keyboard, Windows International layout | Right Alt + Shift + 4. |
| Mac | Option + 3. |
| Microsoft Word | Type 00A3 then press Alt + X. |
| Phone | Long-press the currency key on the symbol keyboard — or copy the card above. |
| Code | Value |
|---|---|
| Unicode | U+00A3 |
| HTML entity | £ (or £) |
| ISO currency code | GBP — from “Great British Pound”, the formal name behind the britain pound symbol‘s code |
Formatting GBP amounts
The sterling pound currency symbol goes before the amount with no space: £5, £19.99, £1,250.00. Pence are written after a decimal point (£3.50 = three pounds fifty) or, for amounts under a pound, with a p: 75p. In finance text the code replaces the sign on first use — “GBP 250 million” — and the pound currency symbol returns for tables and prices. Spoken, amounts are read “five pounds”, “five pounds fifty” for £5.50.
£ is not the “pound sign” Americans mean
One honest confusion: in the United States, the words “pound sign” and “pound key” usually mean # — from lb, the abbreviation for a pound of weight, which is also why Americans say “five pounds” of flour but write #5. On this side of the Atlantic, the pound sign is £ and # is the hash. Both come from the same Latin weight root; they are simply different marks — if a US form asks for the “pound key”, it wants #, and if a UK price shows a pound, it wants £.
Quick rule: price in Britain → £ before the number, no space. Weight in America → # after the number. Everything else on this page is detail.
Explore more currency pages
The full family lives on the currency symbols hub, with its ISO codes table. Its siblings here include the rupee symbol — a sign designed in 2010, where £ grew over centuries — and the cent symbol, the small change of the dollar world.
Frequently asked questions
What is the symbol of a pound?
£ — a crossed capital L from the Latin libra. Copy it from the big card at the top of this page.
How do I type £ on a US keyboard?
On Windows, hold Alt and type 0163 on the numeric keypad (or use the US-International layout: Right Alt + Shift + 4). On a Mac, Option + 3 works on the standard layout.
Does the £ go before or after the amount?
Before, with no space: £25. Amounts under a pound can be written with p instead — 60p.
What is the difference between £ and #?
£ is the British currency sign; # is the hash, which Americans call the pound sign because it historically marked pounds of weight (lb). Different marks, shared Latin root.
What does GBP stand for?
Great British Pound — the ISO 4217 code for pound sterling, used in banking and exchange rates where the £ sign itself is not used.