UK Scottish Sterling notes in a brown envelope, Five Pound,Ten Pound,Twenty pound,note, black economy , payment

Sterling banknotes are the banknotes in circulation in the United Kingdom and its related territories, denominated in pounds sterling (symbol: £; ISO 4217 currency code GBP [Great Britain pound]). Sterling banknotes are official currency in the United Kingdom, Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, British Antarctic Territory, South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, and Tristan da Cunha in St Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. One pound is equivalent to 100 pence. Three British Overseas Territories also have currencies called pounds which are at par with the pound sterling. The Bank of England has a monopoly of banknote issuance in England and Wales but, for historic reasons, three banks in Scotland and four banks in Northern Ireland are permitted to issue their own currency – but the law requires that the issuing banks hold a sum of Bank of England banknotes (or gold) equivalent to the total value of notes issued. Versions of the pound sterling issued by Crown dependencies and other areas are regulated only by local governments and not the Bank of England.