The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1899-12-14
The NlMeLs sIxpENcE.
Ess~ 1t Runs Everywhere Through Eng
IIah Daily Life.

- - MUM 1Hk
IIsh Daily Life.
Should England ever decide upon n
new coat-of-arms, let it be the lion
and unicorn rampant, holding aloft a
big round penny. The present motto
will answer. "God and my Right
money, my God, and all / can get, my
right. This is not especially to be
condemned, perhaps. With 100000,
900 people crowded into an area no
larger than one of our American states
and with 20, 900 persons owning all
the land, the struggle for existence is
terrible. Nevertheless the schemes to
extract the penny are so various and
unique, and they are sprung upon you
so unexpectedly, as TO be actually
funny. In consequence you always
must go about loaded down with these
big. heavy copper coins, larger than
our old one-cent piece which we rele-
gated to the dark ages long ago. Sew
eral times n day you will get eleven OF
these in exchange for shilling, and
you really would have to carry las
l1et if they did not slip away as fast as
they come. The government could
just rs well put its stamp of value
upon smaller coin, but the British
public would resent giving up its dear
old penny. You pay penny for a
5 eat in any of the parks and gardens;
a penny for the use of the toilet room
at all the railroad stations and res
taurants; penny for drink of water.
In fact you viii save wear and tear of
patience and purse by all the time
carrying penny between your thumb
and foretinger.
Americans cannot get used to the
fact that this important coin is two
cents instead OF one. Tuppence to
them seems two cents but it really is
four; thrippence is not three but six;
tenpence seems mere triile until they
reject 1t is twenty cents. The six
pence is ubiquitous, it is omuipresent,
no word falls so readily from English
lips. Where we say nickel they say
sixpence, which is nearly two-nnd n.
half times as much. 1 asked shop
keeper ne day why that everlasting
slXpence was tackled on to everything
"Well," he said, sit sounds better;
two shillings or seven shillings sounds
so bad. 1t is much easier TO say two
and-six, seven n-and-six." SO for the
sake OF ouphony we pay the extra II
cents. At the hotels they tell us the
price is ten-and.six, twelve. and-six, we
never can escape from the everlasting
sixpence. Twenty shillings are a
pound, but ten shillings are not hall
pound, but half n sovereign. Then
there is that exasperating coin, the
half crown, two-and-six, but so little
larger thal the two-shilling piece that
we must lay them together to see the
difference. A favorite price to put
upon articles is a guinea. When We
ask what is guinea we are told that
there Is no such coin but it means q
pound and one shilling-a pleasing
variation from the extra sixpence.
Twelve pence make shilling, two
shillings forin, four shillings q
double ilorin, five shilings crown,
two crowns a half sovereign; three
columns always to add up and besides
Il here are the ha'pennies and the farth
ings, two of which make a ha'penny.
huue tuln puICuuSe yeSteluHy-H
yard and IL quarter of ribbon at one
shilling, thrippence ha'penny yard.
" hat was the bill? At the banks one
must take silver or gold for all sums
under five pounds, $25.
The English admit freely that theil
financial system is very bad, but they
say, "Our money is at par all over the
world, why make a changer" The sill.
yer thrippence is the same size as oui
diminutive three-cent piece whose
coinage was discontinued years ago.
They say it is coined here for the
benefit of those whose conscience will
not let them put coppers into the con
tribution plate on Sunday, but whose
generosity does not extend to six
pence. In some churches the exact
amount of the contribution, and the
kind of coin, is placed on bulletin
in the vestibule. In one town, not
long ago, read at the close of the
morning service, '140 thrippence
pieces"