What is the maximum you can pay in 20p pieces? Test your money knowledge in our quiz of the year

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1. What is the average price of a house in the UK, according to the latest figures from the Office for National Statistics?

a) £413,000

b) £288,000

c) £235,000

d) £304,000

2. How many people currently hold Premium Bonds?

a) 14 million

b) 18 million

c) 22 million

d) 25 million

Wealth: Rishi Sunak and his wife Akshata Murthy (pictured together at this year's Conservative Party Conference) are worth an estimated £529m

3. Rishi Sunak is the wealthiest Prime Minister of modern times and, with his wife Akshata Murthy, is worth an estimated £529 million. Who was the richest Prime Minister in office before him?

a) David Lloyd George

b) Edward Smith Stanley

c) Arthur James Balfour

d) Neville Chamberlain

4. What year was decimalisation introduced in Britain?

a) 1971

b) 1945

c) 1960

d) 1989

5. The first ATM was set up at a Barclays branch, but in which year?

a) 1967

b) 1975

c) 1981

d) 1999

The first ATM was set up at a Barclays branch, but in which year?

6. And which town was it in?

a) Milton Keynes

b) Wilmslow

c) Basingstoke

d) Enfield

7. What does Isa stand for?

a) Independent Spending Account

b) Individual Savings Association

c) Independent Spending Association

d) Individual Savings Account

8. What is the current minimum wage for people over 23?

a) £9.92

b) £10.12

c) £10.42

d) £11.81

9. What is the nickname of the Bank of England, which originated in a 1797 cartoon?

a) Vault of the Exchequer

b) Central Counting House

c) Old Lady of Threadneedle Street

d) The Hoard on Prince's Street

Central bank: The Bank of England's nickname originated in a 1797 cartoon published by James Gillray

10. The Royal Mint headquarters is in which Welsh town?

a) Wrexham

b) Llantrisant

c) Bangor

d) Llandudno

11. Which British figure is featured on the £5 note?

a) Winston Churchill

b) Aneurin Bevan

c) Jane Austen

d) William Shakespeare

12. Which body is responsible for setting the UK's base rate?

a) The Financial Services Compensation Scheme

b) The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee

c) UK Finance

d) The Financial Conduct Authority

13. In what year was the modern London Stock Exchange founded?

a) 1784

b) 1801

c) 1836

d) 1859

14. What is the maximum amount an individual can hold in Premium Bonds?

a) £45,000

b) £25,000

c) £50,000

d) £60,000

15. Which former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who died in 2023, was the architect of the Personal Equity Plan (PEP), which was the precursor to the Isa?

a) Denis Healey

b) Alistair Darling

c) Nigel Lawson

d) Geoffrey Howe

16. Which bank announced more than 200 branch closures in 2023 — and whose former chief executive was banned by the City regulator from holding any senior City position?

a) Barclays

b) HSBC

c) Lloyds

d) Santander

Up to what value can you pay in 20p pieces?

17. Up to what value can you pay in 20p pieces before shops can refuse your payment?

a) £5

b) £10

c) £20

d) £12

18. Which building society gave away £100 windfalls to eligible customers in 2023?

a) Yorkshire

b) Leeds

c) Principality

d) Nationwide

19. Which building society merged with Newcastle BS in 2023?

a) Coventry

b) Leeds

c) Nottingham

d) Manchester

20. Which Cumbrian town is home to the country's smallest building society?

a) Windermere

b) Penrith

c) Brampton

d) Keswick

21. How many sides does a £1 coin have?

a) 8

b) 10

c) 12

d) 14

22. What is the study of coins and currency units called?

a) Numismatics

b) Monetology

c) Pecunismatics

d) Nomismology

23. The Bank of England base rate currently stands at 5.25 per cent — rising from a historic low of 0.1 per cent in 2020. But this is still a far cry from the historic high the base rate hit in late 1979 and early 1980. What was this record level?

a) 13 per cent

b) 17 per cent

c) 19 per cent

d) 21 per cent

24. The amount of money you can put into a personal pension to benefit from tax relief each year was raised in 2023. What is the new figure?

a) £35,000

b) £50,000

c) £60,000

d) £80,000

Prize pot: National Savings & Investment Premium Bond holders now have a one in 24,000 chance of winning between £25 and £1m or every £1 put into the draw

25. National Savings & Investments Premium Bond holders now have a one-in-24,000 chance of winning between £25 and £1 million for every £1 put into the draw. The winners are picked every month by the computer Ernie. What does his acronym stand for?

a) Electric Random Number Internet Emulator

b) Electric Resource Number Indicator Emulator

c) Electronic Radio Network Internet Equipment

d) Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment

26. Who is the Sage of Omaha?

a) Bill Gates

b) Jeff Bezos

c) Steve Ballmer

d) Warren Buffett

27. What is the name for an old English and Irish coin worth 4 old pence?

a) Leopard

b) Farthing

c) Groat

d) Shilling

28. The Wall Street Crash happened in what month of which year?

a) February 1907

b) October 1929

c) June 1934

d) November 1948

29. A 'Pony' is cockney rhyming slang for what value of money?

a) £25

b) £50

c) £100

d) £150

30. Which country was the first to use paper currency, in the 7th century AD?

a) New Zealand

b) France

c) Russia

d) China

• ANSWERS

1. b); 2. c); 3. b); 4. a); 5. a); 6. d); 7. d); 8. c); 9. c); 10. b); 11. a); 12. b); 13. b); 14. c); 15. c); 16. a); 17. b); 18. d); 19. d); 20. b); 21. c); 22. a); 23. b); 24. c); 25. d); 26. d); 27. c); 28. b); 29. a); 30. d).

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