The Falkland Islands pound
Currency · FKP · £ · 1 country
Three Commissioners of Currency, named under the Currency Ordinance 1987, issue the Falkland Islands pound for the islands' government and back all of it with realisable securities held in sterling. The pound stands at par with sterling, so British and Falklands notes and coins are used interchangeably on the islands. In the United Kingdom itself the Falklands pound is not widely accepted.
The sign
The Falklands pound uses the same £ as sterling, and because the two exchange at par the sign needs no local mark. Only the ISO code, FKP, tells them apart. Pence are written with a small p, as the coins from 1p to 50p show.
The same sign stands for 5 other currencies, among them the British pound and the Gibraltar pound.
- ISO code
- FKP
- ISO number
- 238
- Subunit
- penny, 1/100
An amount, written out
£1,234.50
- £1,234.50English
The sign in code
HTML, CSS, JavaScript, UTF-8
- HTML
£££- CSS
content: "\00A3";- JavaScript
"\u00A3"- UTF-8
0xC2 0xA3- UTF-16
0x00A3- UTF-32
0x000000A3
Where the Falkland Islands pound is the official currency
The Falkland Islands use it at par with sterling, which is accepted there too. It is also in use in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands, beside sterling.
About the Falkland Islands pound
Who issues the pound and what backs it
The Falkland Islands Government has issued all of the territory's currency. The Currency Ordinance 1987 makes the Falkland Islands pound the unit of currency, divides it into a hundred pence and gives three Commissioners of Currency the right to issue notes and coins. Section 4 of the ordinance fixes the pound at parity with the pound sterling. Section 12 obliges the Commissioners to buy or sell sterling on demand against the local pound, for delivery in London or on the islands, and they may charge a percentage fee for doing so.
What stands behind the notes is sterling. The government states that the whole issue is fully backed by realisable securities held in that currency. Wikipedia classes the Commissioners as a currency board.
How the islands came to their own notes
The pound arrived after Britain took control of the islands in 1833. Sterling coins circulated at first, reckoned in pounds, shillings and pence. The government introduced its own notes between 1899 and 1901, for five shillings, ten shillings, one pound and five pounds, and kept issuing the five shilling note until 1916.
The pound went decimal in 1971. The old ten shilling note simply became the new 50 pence note and kept its design. Coins minted for the Falklands followed from 1974.
Why Falklands coins match British ones
Every Falklands coin has the same composition and size as its British counterpart, and the dates follow the United Kingdom's. Smaller 5, 10 and 50 pence pieces came in 1998 to match the current UK issues, a circulating £2 in 2004, six years after Britain's, and in 2020 a twelve-sided bimetallic £1 like the British one, with the round coin withdrawn in January 2023 with help from the Royal Mint.
The faces are local. The 1 penny shows a gentoo penguin, the 2 pence an upland goose, the 5 pence a black-browed albatross, the 10 pence a South American sea lion, the 20 pence a sheep and the 50 pence the warrah. The £2 carries a map of the islands.
What changed with the polymer notes
De La Rue prints the notes for the Commissioners. In 2010 the Executive Council ordered 200,000 £10 notes and 200,000 £20 notes, a supply meant to last fifteen to twenty years. A shortage of £5 notes led to a public consultation on new designs in 2024, and polymer £5, £10 and £20 notes entered circulation on 14 August 2025 with a king penguin, the pale maiden flower and Steeple Jason Island. No new £50 is planned, because stocks are adequate, and the older series is expected to be withdrawn in 2026.
Wikipedia records the pound in use in South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands as well, beside sterling. The catalogue's records list only the Falklands, Falkland Islands.
Common questions
Questions about the Falkland Islands pound
Can sterling be spent in the Falkland Islands?
Yes. The Falkland Islands pound has parity with sterling, and the government says notes and coins of both currencies are used interchangeably on the islands. Sterling is accepted, and cards work with the major retailers. The Commissioners of Currency will also exchange one for the other on demand, though they may charge a fee.
Will a shop in Britain take Falkland Islands pounds?
Usually not. Although the two currencies are at par, the Falkland Islands pound is not widely accepted in the United Kingdom, and its banknotes least of all. Falklands coins differ from British ones in their designs alone.
When did the Falklands switch to decimal money?
In 1971, when the pound was divided into 100 pence in place of 20 shillings of 12 pence each. The islands had no coins of their own yet. The old ten shilling note carried on as the 50 pence note with its design unchanged, and the first Falklands decimal coins, from ½p to 10p, arrived in 1974.
Who is on the new Falklands banknotes?
The polymer £5, £10 and £20 notes that entered circulation on 14 August 2025 carry Charles III together with a king penguin, the pale maiden flower and Steeple Jason Island. They share one design and differ only in value and colour. The older series, with Queen Elizabeth II beside the coat of arms, penguins and sea lions, and Christ Church Cathedral and Government House in Stanley on the back, is due to be withdrawn in 2026. The £50 keeps its old design for now, because enough of those notes are in stock.