The British Pound vs the American Dollar

First of all, I should describe the British currency. Pennies, or pence ('p'), are copper in color and come in 1p and 2p coins, the latter being the bigger of the two. The 5p piece is silver and about the size of an American dime. The 10p coin is silver as well, and, with logic long ago lost in America, is larger than the 5p coin. 20p coins, also silver, are the size of a nickel and have seven sides. Next is the 50p piece, the largest in diameter, also silver and seven-sided. Then there's the one pound (£1) coin: gold in color, about the size of a nickel but the thickest of the lot. This is followed by notes in £5, £10, £20, etc. denominations. (There is no one pound note.)

Of course, all this may change if the UK decides to join the European Union for real and adopts the Euro. But I predict that's a long way off yet.

Exchange Rate

The pound remains stronger than the dollar, meaning your UK vacation will be costly in many aspects. On average £1.00 = $1.60. Or to look at it another way, if you pay £100 for a hotel room you're actually shelling out around $160.

To put the British economy into perspective, consider average supermarket prices: A tube of Colgate toothpaste costs £2.25 ($3.66); six eggs cost £0.85 ($1.38); one head of iceberg lettuce is £0.69 ($1.12); a small bottle of contact lens disinfecting solution goes for over £7.00 ($12.00). Meat is the most expensive, with beef topping the list -- 500g or a little over 1 1/2 lb. of mince meat costs £2.99 ($4.87)!

Just getting yourself to the supermarket is a costly proposition: taxes have pushed the average price of gasoline up to the equivalent of $5.00/gallon. And the resulting headache will cost you as well -- 24 aspirins go for over £2.00 (approximately $4.00)

If you think eating at McDonald's is the way to beat food costs, think again. Two Big Mac meals will average you around £8.00 ($13+).

Household appliances are no real bargain either, with the standard refrigerator -- about 2/3 the size of an American fridge at best -- costing from £400 ($652). Televisions and stereos go for stultifying prices as well: a 29" TV with built-in satellite receiver costs from £600 ($978), and a stereo VCR will put you out £500 ($815). The new Gateway computers, including scanner and modem, are being flogged here for £1225 ($1996.75). Often the rule with technology seems to be take off the $-sign and replace it with a £-sign.

Note: At some point you may run across a video you've been dying to get your hands on. Unfortunately British videos are recorded in PAL format, a standard used in Western Europe which will not play on anything but PAL capable VCRs. It's possible to convert PAL videos to the standard you require when you return home (North America is NTSC; France and Eastern Europe is SECAM), but you'll pay for the conversion -- and it isn't cheap.

Mercifully, it's a bit less expensive to entertain yourself in England than in the States. Tickets for West End musicals such as Phantom of the Opera and Les Miserables go for £35 ($57) each, and West End plays usually go for between £15/30 ($24/49). Cinema prices average around £4.50 ($7.33) a ticket...but having the opportunity to see some good British filmwork is worth it.