Falkland Islands pound

Currency of the Falkland Islands

Falkland Islands poundISO 4217

Code| FKP (numeric: 238)
Subunit| 0.01
Unit
Plural|
Symbol| £‎
Denominations
Subunit|
1⁄100| penny
Plural|
penny| pence
Symbol|
penny| p
Banknotes| £5, £10, £20, £50
Coins| 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2
Demographics
User(s)|  Falkland Islands (UK)
(alongside sterling)
South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands (UK)
(alongside sterling)
Issuance
Currency board| Falkland Islands Commissioners of Currency
Website| www.falklands.gov.fk
Valuation
Inflation| 3.6%
Source| The World Factbook, 1998
Pegged with| pound sterling at par

The pound is the currency of the Falkland Islands, a British Overseas Territory in the South Atlantic Ocean. The symbol is the pound sign, £. The ISO 4217 currency code is FKP.

The Falkland Islands pound has always been pegged to sterling at par and banknotes of both currencies are used interchangeably on the islands, but the Falkland Island pound is not widely accepted in Britain itself.

## History

[edit]

See also: Pound sterling in the South Atlantic and the Antarctic

The pound was introduced following the reassertion of sovereignty in the Falklands Islands by the British in 1833. Initially, sterling coin circulated, in units of a pound subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. Specific issues of banknotes have been made for the Falkland Islands since 1899.[1] In 1971, the pound was decimalised and subdivided into 100 (new) pence. Coins have been minted specifically for the Falklands since 1974.[2]

## Legislative basis

[edit]

In Falkland Islands law, the Currency Ordinance 1987 states that the Falkland Islands pound is the currency of the Falkland Islands,[3] and that it has parity with the pound sterling.[4]

References to 'pounds' in the Falklands Islands (such as in contracts and debts) refer to the Falkland Islands pound.[5]

Falkland Island pounds can be exchanged for sterling on demand, but the Currency Commissioners are entitled to charge a percentage fee for doing so.[6]

## Coins

[edit]

In 1974, 1⁄2, 1, 2, 5 and 10 pence coins were introduced. 50 pence coins were introduced in 1980, followed by 20 pence in 1982, £1 in 1987 and a circulating £2 in 2004. The halfpenny coin was last issued in 1983 and was demonetised shortly after. Smaller versions of the 5p, 10p and 50p, corresponding to the current UK issues, were issued in 1998, replacing the larger versions (which for the 5p was eight years after its introduction in the UK). The introduction of the circulation £2 coin in 2004 was six years after the same coin was issued in the UK. In 2020, the Falklands Islands issued a new 12-sided bi-metallic £1 coin, matching both the composition and size of its UK counterpart, while also announcing the withdrawal of the round £1 coin in January 2023, with the assistance of the Royal Mint. All the coins have the same composition and size as the corresponding British coins.

Depiction of Falkland coinage  £0.01  | £0.02  | £0.05

|
|

|  |
Gentoo penguin[7] | Upland goose[7] | Black-browed albatross[7]
£0.10  | £0.20  | £0.50
|  |
South American sea lion | Sheep[7] | Warrah[7]
£1.00  | £2.00  | £2.00 edge
|  |
Falkland Islands
coat of arms[7] | Map of the
Falkland Islands |

## Banknotes

[edit]

Between 1899 and 1901, the government introduced notes for 5/- and 10/-, £1 and £5. 5/- notes were issued until 1916. Following decimalisation in 1971, the 10/- note of the preceding issue became the new 50-pence note, though it retained its old design.[8] £10 notes were introduced in 1975, followed by £20 in 1984 and £50 in 1990. Banknotes in circulation are:

* £5 (red)
* £10 (green)
* £20 (brown)
* £50 (blue, green and red combination)

Falkland Islands' banknotes feature the same images, differing only in their respective denominations and corresponding colours. On the front side, all notes depict a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, the Falklands' coat of arms, a small map of the islands, and images of two of the islands' main animals: penguins and sea lions. On the back, notes feature pictures of Christ Church Cathedral in Stanley and Government House, the official residence of the governor of the Falkland Islands.

Banknotes are printed by De la Rue plc on behalf of the Falkland Island Commissioners of Currency. In 2010 an order was placed for the printing of 200,000 £10 banknotes and for 200,000 £20 banknotes which would represent a supply of banknotes that would last for 15 to 20 years.[9]

A shortage of £5 banknotes led to a public consultation on a new design of banknotes in 2024. New £5, £10, and £20 polymer banknotes are set to enter into circulation on 14 August 2025, all with the same design featuring Charles III and illustrations of local wildlife (the black-browed albatross, king penguin, and pale maiden), as well as Steeple Jason Island. There are no plans for a new £50 banknote due to an adequate supply, and the older series of banknotes is expected to be withdrawn from circulation in 2026.[10]

Current FKP exchange rates

From Google Finance:  | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ARS JPY USD
From Yahoo! Finance:  | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ARS JPY USD
From XE.com:  | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ARS JPY USD
From OANDA:  | AUD CAD CHF CNY EUR GBP HKD JPY USD ARS JPY USD

## See also

[edit]

* Economy of the Falkland Islands

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Falkland Islands". Banknote World. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
2. ^ "Stamps & Coins of the Falkland Islands". The Falkland Islands Association. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
3. ^ "Currency Ordinance 1987" (PDF). Section 3. "The unit of currency of the Falkland Islands shall be the Falkland Islands pound, which shall be divided into one hundred pence."
4. ^ "Currency Ordinance 1987" (PDF). Section 4. "The Falkland Islands pound shall have parity with the pound sterling."
5. ^ "Currency Ordinance 1987" (PDF). Section 8. "Contracts, transactions and documents in the Falkland Islands to be in Falkland Islands currency."
6. ^ "Currency Ordinance 1987" (PDF). Section 12. "The Commissioners shall on demand buy or sell sterling for immediate delivery in London or the Falkland Islands against the Falkland Islands pound."
7. ^ a b c d e f "Guernsey Coin List". falklandwool.com. Archived from the original on 2010-06-08. Retrieved 2010-06-23.
8. ^ Linzmayer, Owen (2012). "Falkland Islands". The Banknote Book. San Francisco, CA: www.BanknoteNews.com.
9. ^ "£10 and £20 Currency Notes" (PDF). Executive Council of the Falkland Islands. 19 August 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2012. Retrieved 2010-09-03.
10. ^ "Falklands debuts new banknotes design". Falklands Radio. 9 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.

* Krause, Chester L.; Clifford Mishler (1991). Standard Catalog of World Coins: 1801–1991 (18th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0873411501.
* Pick, Albert (1994). Bruce, Colin R. II; Shafer, Neil (eds.). Standard Catalog of World Paper Money: General Issues (7th ed.). Krause Publications. ISBN 0-87341-207-9.

* v
* t
* e

Sterling banknotes

England and Wales|

| Bank of England|

| Current|

* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50

|

Discontinued|

* 10/–
* £1
* £100
* £200
* £500
* £1,000

Non-circulating|

* £1,000,000
* £10,000,000
* £100,000,000

Scotland|

| Bank of Scotland|

* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50
* £100

|

Royal Bank of Scotland|

* £1
* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50
* £100

Clydesdale Bank|

| Current issue|

* £5
* £10
* £20
* £100

|

Discontinued|

* £50

Northern Ireland (currently issued)|

| Bank of Ireland|

* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50
* £100

|

Danske Bank/Northern Bank|

| Current issue|

* £10
* £20

|

Discontinued|

* £5
* £50
* £100

Ulster Bank|

* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50
* £100

Northern Ireland (no longer issued)|

| AIB|

* £1
* £5
* £10
* £20
* £50
* £100

|

Crown Dependencies|

* Guernsey pound
* Jersey pound
* Manx pound

British Overseas Territories
(at parity with sterling)|

* Falkland Islands pound
* Gibraltar pound
* Saint Helena pound

See also|

* Sterling (currency)
* Sterling coins
* Economy of the United Kingdom
* Sterling area

* v
* t
* e

Currencies of the Americas

North|

* Bermudian dollar
* Canadian dollar
* Danish krone
* Mexican peso
* U.S. dollar

Caribbean|

* Aruban florin
* Bahamian dollar
* Barbadian dollar
* Caribbean guilder
* Cayman Islands dollar
* Cuban peso
* Dominican peso
* East Caribbean dollar
* Euro
* Haitian gourde
* Jamaican dollar
* Trinidad and Tobago dollar
* U.S. dollar

Central|

* Bitcoin
* Belize dollar
* Costa Rican colón
* Guatemalan quetzal
* Honduran lempira
* Nicaraguan córdoba
* Panamanian balboa
* U.S. dollar
* Salvadoran colón(non-circulating)

South|

* Argentine peso
* Bolivian boliviano
* Brazilian real
* Chilean peso
* Colombian peso
* Euro
* Falkland Islands pound
* Guyanese dollar
* Paraguayan guaraní
* Peruvian sol
* Sterling
* Surinamese dollar
* Uruguayan peso
* U.S. dollar
* Venezuelan bolívar

* v
* t
* e

Falkland Islands

Capital: Port Stanley

History|

* 1770 Falklands crisis
* 1833 British Reassertion
* Hope Place
* Port Egmont
* Puerto Soledad
* 1982 invasion
* Falklands War

Geography|

| Islands|

* Arch
* Bald
* Barclay
* Barren
* Beaver
* Beauchene
* Bird
* Bleaker
* Bobs
* Broken
* Burdwood Bank
* Carcass
* Dunbar
* Dyke
* East Falkland
* Lafonia
* East
* Eddystone Rock
* Elephant Cays
* Fox
* George
* Golding
* Great
* Hog
* Hummock
* Jason
* Keppel
* Kidney
* Lively
* Long
* New
* Passage
* Pebble
* Penn
* Quaker
* Rabbit
* Ruggles
* Sandy Bay
* Saunders
* Sea Dog
* Sea Lion
* Speedwell
* Split
* Staats
* Swan
* Tea
* Tyssen
* Weddell
* West Falkland
* West Point

|

Locations|

* Ajax Bay
* Bay of Harbours
* Bertha's Beach
* Bluff Cove
* Brenton Loch
* Bull Point
* Byron Heights
* Camp
* Cape Bougainville
* Cape Pembroke
* Chartres
* Chatham
* Circum Peak
* Darwin
* Douglas
* Dunnose Head
* Eagle Passage
* Falkland Sound
* Fitzroy
* Fox Bay
* French
* Goose Green
* Grantham Sound
* Green Patch
* Gull
* Hill Cove
* Hope Harbour
* Hornby Mountains
* Horse
* Hoste Inlet
* Johnson's Harbour
* Lafonia
* Loop
* Mount Adam
* Mount Alice
* Mount Maria
* Mount Usborne
* Mount Weddell
* New Haven
* New Year Cove
* North Arm
* Orqueta
* Pebble Island Settlement
* Pillar
* Pleasant Peak
* Port Albemarle
* Port Howard
* Port Louis
* Port Patterson
* Port San Carlos
* Port Stephens
* Quaker Harbour
* Race
* Rincon Grande
* Roy Cove
* Salvador
* San Carlos
* Seal Bay
* Smylie Channel
* Stanley
* Stanley Harbour
* Swan
* Teal Inlet
* Volunteer Point
* Walker Creek
* Weddell Point
* Weddell Settlement

Politics|

* Chief Executive
* Constitution
* Falkland Islands pound (currency)
* Government House
* Governor
* list
* Legislative Assembly
* Representative Office, London
* Sovereignty dispute

Military|

* Falkland Islands Defence Force
* Mare Harbour
* RAF Mount Pleasant
* 1312 Flight
* 1435 Flight
* RRH Mount Kent
* RRH Byron Heights
* RRH Mount Alice

Economy|

* Falkland Islands Company
* Falkland Islands Development Corporation
* Falkland Islands General Employees Union
* Falkland Landholdings Corporation
* Falklands Oil and Gas

Society|

* Education
* Falkland Islands Community School
* Falkland Islanders
* Origins
* Falklands Conservation
* Human rights
* LGBTQ
* Languages
* Falkland Islands English
* Law Enforcement
* Telecommunications
* Internet domain
* Transport
* Falkland Islands Government Air Service
* Mount Pleasant Airport
* Port Stanley Airport

Culture|

* Coat of arms
* Flag
* Motto
* Religion
* Anglican parish
* Christ Church Cathedral
* Roman Catholicism
* Scouting and Guiding

Sport|

* Commonwealth Games
* Cricket team
* Football team
* Rifle Association
* Rugby union

(*) Sixth-formers attend Peter Symonds College in England, and national diploma / NVQ students attend Chichester College in England

* v
* t
* e

Currency units named pound, lira, or similar

Circulating|

* Egyptian pound
* Lebanese pound
* Pound sterling
* Alderney pound
* Falkland Islands pound
* Gibraltar pound
* Guernsey pound
* Jersey pound
* Manx pound
* Saint Helena pound
* South Sudanese pound
* Sudanese pound
* Syrian pound
* Turkish lira

Local alternative currency|

* Bristol pound
* Brixton pound
* Exeter pound
* Lewes pound
* Liverpool pound
* Stroud pound
* Totnes pound

Obsolete and historical|

* Aeginetan mina
* AM-Lira
* Angevin pound
* Attic mina
* Australian pound
* Bahamian pound
* Bermudian pound
* Biafran pound
* British West African pound
* Byzantine litra
* Canadian pound
* Connecticut pound
* Cypriot pound
* Delaware pound
* Fijian pound
* French livre
* Livre parisis
* Livre tournois
* French colonial livre
* Guadeloupe livre
* Haitian livre
* New France livre
* Saint Lucia livre
* Gambian pound
* Georgia pound
* Ghanaian pound
* Irish punt
* Israeli lira
* Italian lira
* Italian East African lira
* Italian Somaliland lira
* Jaca pound
* Jamaican pound
* Japanese government-issued Oceanian pound
* Jersey livre
* Libyan pound
* Lombardo-Venetian lira
* Luccan lira
* Luxembourg livre
* Malawian pound
* Maltese pound
* Maryland pound
* Massachusetts pound
* New Brunswick pound
* New Guinean pound
* New Hampshire pound
* New Jersey pound
* New York pound
* New Zealand pound
* Newfoundland pound
* Nigerian pound
* North Carolina pound
* Nova Scotian pound
* Ottoman lira
* Palestine pound
* Papal lira
* Parman lira
* Pennsylvania pound
* Peruvian libra
* Pound Scots
* Prince Edward Island pound
* Rhode Island pound
* Rhodesian pound
* Rhodesia and Nyasaland pound
* Roman pound
* Sammarinese lira
* Sardinian lira
* Solomon Islands pound
* South Carolina pound
* Southern Rhodesian pound
* South African pound
* South West African pound
* Tongan pound
* Tripolitanian lira
* Tuscan lira
* Vatican lira
* Venetian lira
* Virginia pound
* Western Samoan pound
* Zambian pound

Historical antecedents (mass)|

* Roman pound (libra)
* Moneyer's pound (England)
* Grzywna (Grivna)

See also|

* Pound sign (£)
* Dinar
* Pound (mass) (℔)
* Roman currency
* Carolingian monetary system
* £sd

Portals:

* Money
* Numismatics
* South America

* v
* t
* e

South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands

Capital: King Edward Point

General|

* Coat of arms
* Commissioner
* Flag
* Foreign relations
* History
* Languages
* List of South Georgians
* Operation "Paraquet"
* Public holidays
* Toothfish Day
* South Georgia Museum
* .gs
* Sovereignty
* Invasion of South Georgia

Settlements / Whaling stations|

* Bird Island
* Grytviken
* Godthul
* Husvik
* King Edward Point
* Leith Harbour
* Ocean Harbour
* Prince Olav Harbour
* Stromness
* Corbeta Uruguay base

South Georgia islands|

* Annenkov Island
* Bird Island
* Black Rock
* Black Rocks
* Clerke Rocks
* Cooper Island
* Grass Island
* Grassholm
* Kupriyanov Islands
* Pickersgill Islands
* Prion Island
* Saddle Island
* Shag Rocks
* South Georgia
* Welcome Islands
* Willis Islands

South Sandwich Islands|

* Bristol
* Montagu
* Saunders

| Candlemas Islands|

* Candlemas
* Vindication

|

Traversay Islands|

* Leskov
* Visokoi
* Zavodovski

|

Southern Thule|

* Bellingshausen
* Cook
* Thule

|

Seamounts|

* Protector Shoal
* Kemp Caldera

Landmarks|

* Admiralty Peak
* Allardyce Range
* Barff Peninsula
* Fortuna Glacier
* Gold Harbour
* Larsen Harbour
* Mount Baume
* Mount Belinda
* Mount Cunningham
* Mount Paget
* Mount Roots
* Orca Peak
* Peggotty Bluff
* Salisbury Plain
* Salvesen Range
* Southern Thule
* Thatcher Peninsula
* Bay of Isles
* Stromness Bay
* Cumberland Bay
* Possession Bay
* Busen Point

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