Best currency exchange rates for years?
Recent fluctuations in currency exchange rates are making news – but history shows us they could change even more
A look at currency exchange rates over the years shows that recent speculation about permanent damage to the value of the US dollar may be a little over the top.
With the pound achieving its strongest currency exchange rate against the dollar for more than quarter of a century recently, much news coverage has been devoted to whether the US currency is on a permanently downward slide. But the current pound-to-dollar currency exchange rate is nothing new – and, historically, not especially unusual.
Currency exchange rates pegged
When "The $64,000-Dollar Question" first aired on US TV in 1955 the pound was pegged to the dollar under the currency exchange policy of the Bretton Woods system. Converting the prize into sterling would have left you with about £23,000 under the currency exchange rate of the day. At $2.10 – the value of one pound today, the same $64,000 would convert to £30,476.19 – meaning the pound was significantly stronger against the dollar than it is today.
The same remained true after the collapse of Bretton Woods in the early 1970s. At the time of the first episode of "The Six-Million Dollar Man" in March 1973, the eponymous hero would have been valued at £2,400,000 according to the currency exchange rates of the day. Today, he would be worth nearly half a million pounds more – because the dollar was weaker then than it is now.
Huge currency exchange rate reversals
Since then, currency exchange rates have fluctuated significantly, with the dollar gaining strength on the pound for the next decade. Terry Wogan, the BBC's king of the airwaves, now earns an estimated £1 million a year, which he could swap for a $2 million dollar lifestyle in the states – but back when his TV chat show was starting in 1985, that million was only worth $900,000 US dollars.
Things have reversed again in the subsequent two decades – demonstrating that currency exchange rates will change and change again in the future, and any trend is unlikely to be permanent.
Get the best currency exchange deal
Foreign Currency Exchange Ltd is a commercial currency brokerage based in the UK. We help thousands of clients move hundreds of million pounds across the globe every day. From large businesses to private individuals who wish to send regular payments abroad, you can save money by getting a better currency exchange rate than your bank.
The Foreign Currency Exchange buys currency at wholesale rates and can help you save money with our fast secure service. For more information contact us now, telephone +44 (0) 20 7989 0000 or email info@fcexchange.co.uk