If Scotland regains independence, what should it do with its currency? Scottish banks currently print their own bank-notes, but these are British pounds subject to control by the Bank of England. They are not truly a Scottish currency.

The simplest thing would be to follow the Irish example—but that should give Scotland pause for thought. The newly independent Ireland issued its own currency in 1927, but it was still backed by British sterling securities, such that Irish banknotes were marked “payable in London” until 1961. The currency remained pegged one-for-one to the pound until 1979, after which it became pegged to the European monetary system. But as the British pound rose sharply due to North Sea oil and Margaret Thatcher’s hard monetary policies, the Irish currency lost value. Ireland joined the euro at its creation in 1999 and from that moment on ceased to have its own currency or monetary