Pounds, shillings and pence

2007-01-07T22:23:47Z

83.100.203.34:

Britain adopted decimal currency â€“ 100 '''pennies''' in a '''pound''' â€“ in 1973. Before then, our standard currency was divided according to very old principles.

The '''pound sterling''' (see '''pound''' above) consisted of 240 '''pennies'''. This is a large number for ill-educated people; and it represents as lot of cash to carry around. So the lesser unit of the '''shilling''' was used. There are 12 pence in a shilling; there are 20 shillings in a pound. The abbreviations for these were '''Â£ s d''', derived from the Latin words for the Roman coins they most closely resembled: the ''librum'' ('pound'), ''solidus'' and ''denarius''. Hence old people can still be heard saying â€˜Ell-ess-deeâ€™ when they mean 'money'. The '''Â£''' was written before the number it referred to (as it is now); the '''s''' and the '''d''' were written after. So the full expression of '2 pounds, thirteen shillings and eightpence' was
Â£2/13s/8d, though this was usually written as Â£2/13/8

In recent times, the pound, before it became paper only, was a gold coin; the shilling was silver, and the penny was copper. (In practice, of course, these were no longer pure. By the twentieth century the gold in a coin was worth far more than its face value, and alloys were used for both silver and copper.)

Other coins in use at various times in history (and therefore referred to in older texts) include, in gold: the '''sovereign''' (Â£1) and the '''half sovereign''' (10 shillings; replaced by a note) which survived into recent times; and the '''noble''' (13/4, or 2/3 of a pound) and '''mark''' (6/8, or 1/3 of a pound), which ceased to be current coin in the Stuart period. In silver there were, among others, the '''crown''' (5/-, 5 shillings or Â¼ of a pound), '''half-crown''' (2/6) and '''florin''' (2/-) among larger denominations, and the '''sixpence''' (6d, sixpence or half a shilling, slang name a '''â€˜tannerâ€™''') and '''threepence''' (3d, or Â¼ shilling, often called a '''â€˜threepenny bitâ€™'''). In earlier times there were also (among others) a '''groat''', or 4d (fourpence), and an '''angel''' whose value varied: at different times it was 6/8 and 10/-. The shilling was often called a '''â€˜bobâ€™'''. Copper coins included the '''penny''', '''halfpenny''' and '''farthing''', or Â¼ penny.

See also [[penny, pence, pennies]].
[[category:UK culture]] [[category:etymology]]

Penny, pence, pennies

2007-01-07T22:21:07Z

83.100.203.34:

The word '''penny''' (a small coin) has two plural forms. One, '''pennies''', is regular. The other is not â€“ '''pence'''. As a rule of thumb, use the latter when you are giving a precise cost. When you are talking about the coins in general, use '''pennies''' â€“ e.g. "I have a pocket full of '''pennies'''" but "The postage is twenty '''pence'''."

The position is sometimes complicated by the fact that those who learnt to handle money before the change to decimal coinage (see [[Pounds, shillings and pence]]) often use a form of plural belonging to the old system. This is the word '''penny''' added as a suffix to various numbers. A coin valued at just over 1p in modern terms was called a '''threepenny''', pronounced (and sometimes written) as 'thruppenny' (in the North of England). The price was usually pronounced 'thruppenceâ€™. We also had things, be they ice creams, bus rides or cinema tickets called '''tuppenny''' (more formally '''twopenny'''), and in derogatory mood we could call something '''tuppenny-halfpenny''', meaning 'very cheap'. The halfpenny itself was sometimes written '''ha'penny'''.

In slang, if a man gave another a '''fourpenny one''', it meant 'hit him very hard'. There has not been a fourpenny coin for a long time. In the olden days, there was one, called a '''groat'''.

Hull AWE - User contributions [en]

Pounds, shillings and pence

Penny, pence, pennies