The record high
It depends on the era. Under the pre-1914 gold standard, the pound was fixed against the dollar at about $4.86 — by far the highest GBP/USD has ever stood, though it was a fixed rate rather than a freely-traded market price. In the modern floating era, the high was around $2.11 in November 2007, when a weak dollar and a confident UK economy lifted Cable to a level it has not approached since the global financial crisis.
The record low
The lowest GBP/USD has ever traded was approximately $1.035, reached intraday on 26 September 2022. The plunge followed the UK government’s “mini-budget” of large, unfunded tax cuts, which triggered a sharp loss of confidence in UK assets and forced the Bank of England to intervene in the bond market. The pound recovered within days as the measures were reversed, but the spike briefly brought pound-dollar parity into view for the first time in history. The previous record low was about $1.05 in February 1985, set during a period of extraordinary broad dollar strength.
The long-run range
Across the whole floating era since the early 1970s, GBP/USD has spent most of its time between roughly 1.05 and 2.10. The 1.20–1.60 band has been the most common home in recent decades. Knowing this range is useful context: a rate of 1.40 is historically firm for the modern pound, while a rate near 1.10 is historically weak. For the full story behind these levels, see the GBP/USD history page.