<P> The currency sign for the pound is £, which is usually written with a single cross-bar (as on sterling bank notes), though a version with a double cross-bar (₤) is also sometimes seen . This symbol derives from medieval Latin documents; the Roman words libra, solidus, and denarius (£ sd) referred to pounds, shillings and pence in the British pre-decimal (duodecimal) currency system and the black - letter "L" was the abbreviation for libra, the basic Roman unit of weight . </P> <P> The ISO 4217 currency code is GBP, formed from "GB", the ISO 3166 - 1 alpha - 2 code for the United Kingdom, and the first letter of "pound". It does not stand for "Great Britain Pound" or "Great British Pound". Occasionally, the abbreviation "UKP" is used but this is non-standard because the ISO 3166 country code for the United Kingdom is GB (see Terminology of the British Isles). The Crown dependencies use their own (non-ISO) codes: GGP (Guernsey pound), JEP (Jersey pound) and IMP (Isle of Man pound). Stocks are often traded in pence, so traders may refer to pence sterling, GBX (sometimes GBp), when listing stock prices . </P> <P> A common slang term for the pound sterling or pound is quid, which is singular and plural, except in the common phrase "Quids in!" The term may have come via Italian immigrants from "scudo", the name for a number of coins used in Italy until the 19th century; or from Latin' quid' via the common phrase quid pro quo, literally, "what for what," or, figuratively, "An equal exchange or substitution". </P> <P> Since decimalisation in 1971 (see Decimal Day), the pound has been divided into 100 pence (until 1981 described on the coinage as "new pence"). The symbol for the penny is "p"; hence an amount such as 50p (£ 0.50) properly pronounced "fifty pence" is more colloquially, quite often, pronounced "fifty pee" / fɪfti: pi:/ . This also helped to distinguish between new and old pence amounts during the changeover to the decimal system . A decimal halfpenny was issued until 1984, but was removed due to having a higher cost to manufacture than its face value . </P>

What is the difference between an english pound and a quid
find me the text answering this question