Like the Royal Navy and India, the pound had always been a jewel in the British imperial crown. But last week the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher had to rush to rescue the once proud pound from sinking below $1 in value. The pound has always been something of an anomaly in international currency markets. While it takes several deutsche marks or French francs, and hundreds of Japanese yen, to equal one U.S. dollar, the British pound is the only major Western currency worth more than a dollar. In 1949 a pound was worth $4.03, and as recently as 1980...
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