Currency of British Columbia

From Dominion of British Columbia

Okook pej kopa Chinook Wawa: Kinchoch Kolompi Illahee yaka kupkup

The currency of British Columbia is the British Columbia Pound (symbol: £; ISO 4217 code: BCP), abbreviated with £ or sometimes BC£. One pound is subdivided into 20 shillings (abbreviated: s), and one shilling is further subdivided into 12 pence (singular: penny; abbreviated: d).

The BC pound was introduced in 1866 as the currency of the unified Crown Colony of British Columbia.

Amounts of money are written either in a form such as £2.6s.6d (two pound, six shillings and sixpence, commonly read as "two pound six and six"), as 6/2 (six shillings and twopence, commonly read as "six and two") or 3/- (three shillings), or as 3d (threepence, pronounced "threppence").

The pound is colloquially called "quid", and a shilling is colloquially called a "bob". Two shillings is called a "florin", 2/6 is "half a crown", 5s is a "crown". £1.10.- is called "thirty bob". 21s is a "guinea", but this term is used only for lawyers' fees and at auctions.

Banknotes are currently printed in denominations of £5, £10, £25, £50, £100, £500 and £1000. Coins are presently minted in the following denominations: 3d ("threppence"), 6d, 1s, 1 florin (2s), half crown (2/6), 1 crown (5/-), £1, £2 and 5 crowns (£2.6s.-). Coins denominated "1 Sovereign" are minted for commemorative issues; one sovereign is equal to one pound. The 1d ("penny") coin was discontinued in 2006; since then, all prices are rounded to the nearest 3d when paying by cash, but electronic payments continue to be charged to the penny.

Current exchange rates with major world and Commonwealth currencies are as follows:

  • Australian Dollar: A$1 = BC 6/4; BC£1 = A$3.14 (1d = A$0.0131)
  • Canadian Dollar: C$1 = BC 6/8; BC£1 = C$3.00 (1d = C$0.0125)
  • PR China Renminbi: 元1 = BC 1/3.77; BC£1 = 元15.22 (1d = 元0.0634)
  • Euro: €1 = BC 10/5; BC£1 = €1.92 (1d = €0.0081)
  • Hong Kong Dollar: HK $1 = BC 1/1.48; BC£1 = HK$17.81 (1d = HK$0.0742)
  • Indian Rupee: ₹1 = BC 1.4d; BC£1 = ₹170.90 (1d = ₹0.7121)
  • Japanese Yen: ¥1 = BC 0.99d; BC£1 = ¥241.92 (1d = ¥1.0082)
  • New Zealand Dollar: NZ$1 = BC 5/11.94; BC£1 = NZ$3.34 (1d = NZ$0.0139)
  • RZ Dollar: RZ$1 = BC 2/5; BC£1 = RZ$8.26 (1d = RZ$0.0344)
  • Russian Ruble: R 1 = BC 1.36d; BC£1 = R 176.69 (1d = R 0.7362)
  • South Korean Won: ₩1 = BC 0.09d; BC£1 = ₩2555.09 (1d = ₩10.6462)
  • Swiss Franc: CHF 1 = BC 9/5.6; BC£1 = CHF 2.11 (1d = CHF 0.0088)
  • Republic of China Dollar: NT$1 = BC 3.7d; BC£1 = NT$65.59 (1d = NT$0.2733)
  • UK Pound: GB£1 = BC 11/7; BC£1 = GB£1.73 (1d = GB£0.0072)
  • US Dollar: US$1 = BC 8/8; BC£1 = US$2.30 (1d = US$0.0096)