Historical Sketch

In the 14th century, the Isle of Man became an English crown estate but was never integrated into England nor the United Kingdom. In 1405, the fief was entrusted to the Stanley family, who were thus allowed to use the title "King of Man", later "Lord of Man". After the extinction of the Stanley family in 1736 the fief passed to the Murray family who resigned in 1765, and the fief was returned to the English crown.

Monetary History Overview

The local accounting unit had depreciated over time such that in the 19th century 14 Pence Manx went on the Shilling Sterling. Subsidiary coinage in the local accounting system had been issued since 1668. The scarcity of money has triggered the issuance of metallic tokens and "card money" by local businessmen. In 1839, the island parliament passed the Copper Coinage Act to adopt the British accounting. Local subsidiary coins at 12 Pence to the Shilling were issued but since their production was considered too costly, they were withdrawn already one year later. The 1836 Bankers' Notes Act allowed the paper money issuance by private commercial banks. The first one started in 1854, but only after the appearance of the Bank of Man in 1865 private banknotes began circulating in substantial numbers. In 1961, the Government Notes Act terminated the private money issuance, at that time only two of them had remained in business. Since then, the Bank of Man issues the paper money of the Manx Pound in the name of the island government. The Manx Pound was decimalized in 1971, at the same time as in Great Britain, such that 100 New Pence went to the Pound instead of 240, a counting that dated back to ancient times. After decimalization, Man began issuing local subsidiary coins which initially circulated alongside the British ones and have meanwhile displace them.

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Monetary History Sources