Why Scotland cannot keep the Pound

On the question of currency, we have a recent example of an amicable split by two Countries when Slovakia and the Czech Republic split. Initially the old Czechoslovak currency, the Czechoslovak Koruna, was used in both countries following the dissolution of Czechoslovakia on the 31^st December 1992. By the 8^th February 1993, the two new Countries had adopted national currencies in the form of the Czech Koruna and the Slovak Koruna. At the beginning, the currencies had an equal exchange rate, but later on the value of the Slovak Koruna was up to 30% lower than that of the Czech Koruna. For Scotland, the alternatives seem to be to have a Scottish Pound or for Scotland to enter the Euro however, we know that enthusiasm to enter into the Euro has declined since the debt crisis that has occurred in several European nations.

 

Further back in history, we had the split from the rest of the Great Britain by the Republic of Ireland. Ireland had a currency, the Irish Punt, that during the days of fixed exchange rates was pegged to the pound sterling but following the advent of "floating" exchange rates, its value varied against the pound sterling until Ireland entered the Euro in January 2002.

The Czech and Slovak joint currency lasted less than 40 days; why would anyone expect a British and Scottish joint pound to last any longer?

The next question we must ask is would an Independent Scotland want to join the European Community and if accepted what would happen toits currency 

New members also have to join the Euro and adopt tougher European Treaty obligations on border controls, crime and security. Even if Scotland was to join the European Union, it would have to join on the terms offered to new members and not rely on the current agreement reached between the UK and EU.