General · EdgepediaOctober 10, 20265 min read

Saint Helena pound

The Saint Helena pound (SHP) is the currency of Saint Helena and Ascension Island, issued by the Commissioners of Currency under the Currency Ordinance 1975 and pegged at a fixed one-to-one rate to the United Kingdom pound sterling.¹^•² It is a distinct legal tender currency, not a re-stamped sterling, but is accepted only on the two islands and is backed pound-for-pound by sterling held in a government Currency Fund.²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Issuing authority	Commissioners of Currency appointed by the Governor, holding the sole right to issue notes and coins under the Currency Ordinance 1975¹
Peg	Fixed 1:1 to UK pound sterling; the Currency Fund matches each St Helena pound with GBP²
Reserve cover	117% to 138% of monetary liabilities, above the 110–115% typical of orthodox British colonial currency boards⁴
Where it is accepted	St Helena and Ascension only; Tristan da Cunha uses pound sterling³
Current notes	£5, £10, and £20 polymer notes bearing King Charles III, printed by De La Rue, entered circulation in January 2026¹^•⁵
Circulation (2001)	£3,480,256 outstanding as of 31 March 2001, roughly £480 per capita⁴
Fiscal anchor	UK aid through the FCDO provides about 68% of main budget revenue; core aid is £37.51 million in 2026/27²

What the Saint Helena pound is

The currency is issued under the legal framework of the Currency Ordinance 1975, under which Commissioners of Currency appointed by the Governor hold the sole right to issue notes and coins on behalf of the St Helena Government.¹ The peg is maintained by the Currency Fund, provided for by the same ordinance, which backs the currency by matching each St Helena pound with GBP pounds; because of this arrangement, UK aid settlements are not affected by exchange-rate movements.²

The monetary unit applies to Saint Helena and Ascension, which share it; Tristan da Cunha uses pound sterling.³ One specialist reference reports that St Helena coins and notes are in use on Tristan da Cunha alongside British ones.⁶

History of the currency

Until 14 February 1971, St Helena used pounds, shillings, and pence, like the UK, and then decimalised on the same day.⁷ The island's first locally identifiable coins were 700,000 East India Company copper ha'pennies dated 1821, intended for use by the local population.⁷

A currency board for seigniorage. St Helena passed the Currency Fund Ordinance of 1975 and the Currency Regulations of 1976 in the interest of generating seigniorage revenue, the profit from issuing money. These measures established a currency board and gave the island its first unique legal tender currency, the St Helena pound at parity with sterling.⁴ The first St Helena banknotes were introduced in February 1976, and circulating coins in the names of St Helena and Ascension followed in 1984, in denominations of 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 50p, and £1.⁷ The £20 note was not introduced until September 1986.⁷

Notes, coins and the issuing mechanism

The Bank of St Helena accepts polymer £5, £10, £20, and £50 notes and Bank of England sterling coins, in both Queen Elizabeth II and King Charles III portraits.⁸ The bank's merchant page lists a £50 polymer note, while the specialist reference Saint Helena Island Info states there are no St Helena £50 notes; the two sources disagree and the question is unresolved.⁸^•⁷

The 2026 polymer series. New £5, £10, and £20 banknotes featuring King Charles III officially entered circulation in January 2026. At a handover ceremony on 16 January 2026, the Chief Minister, the Financial Secretary, and the Deputy Financial Secretary formally presented the notes to the Bank of St Helena.¹ De La Rue, a commercial banknote printer, worked with the St Helena Government from the initial design phase through to printing and final shipment, manufacturing the family on its SAFEGUARD® polymer substrate, which the company says delivers a significantly longer lifespan than traditional paper notes.¹^•⁵

By the numbers

The scale of the note issue is small. As of 31 March 2001, £3,480,256 was in circulation, roughly £480 per capita.⁴ The currency board generated about £300,000 in average annual operating profit for the Treasury, roughly 5% of its self-generated revenue, which was the original motive for creating the currency.⁴

The Currency Fund holds cover of 117% to 138% of its monetary liabilities, well above the 110–115% typical of orthodox British colonial currency boards.⁴ No withdrawal from the Currency Fund is planned for 2026/27.²

The economy behind the currency

St Helena is a cash-heavy economy. Credit and debit cards are not widely accepted for payment on St Helena or Ascension, and SHP notes and coins are accepted only on those two islands.⁹ The Bank of St Helena is the sole banking entity on the islands, and a local debit card service commenced only in December 2017.³

Physical supply of cash. Until 2017 the island had no airport, and all banknotes and coins arrived aboard the RMS St Helena, the sole lifeline connecting the island to the outside world.¹⁰ In 2013 the bank estimated it needed about £50,000 in sterling per month to meet customer demand, a problem eased after scheduled air services began.⁷ The bank holds intermittently available supplies of UK sterling and South African rand, charging a 2% exchange commission with rates set weekly, and a 5% charge (minimum £2.50) on card cash advances.⁹

Recent developments

The most visible change is the currency itself: the King Charles III £5, £10, and £20 polymer series entered circulation through January 2026, with older notes gradually withdrawn.¹^•⁸ On the fiscal side, the three-year UK settlement brings core aid to £37.51 million in 2026/27, up from £35.79 million in 2025/26, an increase of £1.72 million or 4.8%.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Banknotes, currency issuance, and monetary artifacts › Island and microstate currencies

Initially written Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026

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