contact Me 020 308 69996 British Coins and Collecting Accessories Predecimal.com - Just me specialising in British coins from about 1660 onwards and offering collectors' accessories, books and free knowledge on this interesting and fulfilling field. This website also contains the biggest British Coin related forum in the world, with over 120,000 posts it's quite possibly the largest British numismatic reference of any kind. It's searchable, free and everyone is welcome. Back in stock, and back on offer. All orders of £30 or over will receive a free pack of these coin envelopes. I'll add them automatically to your order. This website is run by Chris Perkins - British Numismatic Trade Association Member (the BNTA), professional numismatist, former broadcaster, author of the 32nd to 42nd annual editions of "Collectors' Coins GB", and of "Collectors' Coins - Decimal Issues of the UK", co-author of a number of other books! Please see Rotographic.com for more details on my range of books.

With a base in Germany I am also able to offer a large range of collectors accessories at the best possible 'direct from the factory' prices. Who am I? And what assurances do I offer regarding all buying and selling of items through this website? Click here. PDF - Click Me! Full range of Lindner products available on predecimal.com! Lindner products combine excellent quality and value. Click on the Lindner image above to download the full (older, but still current) Lindner PDF catalogue (18mb). Browse through it and enter the reference numbers, without spaces, of what you require in the 'Search Products' box in the search box at the top of the website. Purchase items in the usual way. Note that the PDF prices are in Euros - The prices on predecimal.com are the GBP equivalent, or in some cases, actually even cheaper! Silver proof, as issued £5 Crown coin to mark the Christening of Princess Charlotte. I bo... £72.00£64.80 Silver proof, as issued £5 Crown coin to mark the 2nd Birthday of Prince George.&nbs...

£90.00£81.00 Original red card box with some light wear on the edges/top, staining on the bottom and looseness wh... £550.00£449.40 Rainbow toned with big areas of dark irredescent purple and pinks (not at all apparent in the scans)... £180.00£144.00 Very attractive natural tone, prooflike obverse fields. Higer value coins are always sent fully insured. £95.00£85.50 A really beautiful coin with natural toned bright lustre and very little actual wear ro report. LVI ... £200.00£160.00 Good protrait, some weak areas on the reverse. TERTIO edge. REDUCED from £300.Higher values coins are always sent fully insured. £270.00£240.00 A few available, of the very best quality. £8.00£6.80 Stunning full lustre, of highest possible quality. A few available. £9.00£8.10 Choice coin with beautiful proof like fields.

The odd minor stain, but I am being very picky, it&#39... £295.00£288.90 Anyone that has glanced at a history book for more than five minutes will probably be aware&nbs... £2.00£1.80 I purchased about 700 of these Indian 1/12th Anna coins. Each is uncirculated, but of the 700, only ... £1.50£0.99 I purchased about 700 of these Indian 1/12th Anna coins. Each is uncirculated, but of the 700, only ... £1.50£0.99 Eire 1968 penny from the last date that were produced before Irish decimalisation. All Irish pre-dec... £1.20£0.99 Round, 28mm card coin tickets, blank on both sides. A shade off-white in colour, these coin tickets...

£1.75£0.99 (Quantity 50)REDUCED IN PRICE FROM JUNE 2016.NEW IMPROVED TYPE: With a slightly higher band for... £2.60£2.99 The British pre-decimal penny was a handsome 3.1cm (1.5in) large Bronze coin from 1860 - 1967, when ... £10.00£8.96 Very odd even 'lustrous' tone. No hairlines so most probably dipped or treated with somethin... £100.00 British Predecimal Denominations British Predecimal Denominations It's very confusing if you're under 50 years of age or not British to get your head round the British Pre-Decimal coinage system. Great Britain and Northern Ireland converted to a decimal currency (100 pennies =£1) in 1971 but before that we had what seems the most confusing illogical denomination system ever! On the right is a brief description of the pre-decimal values and how many of them were contained in a pre-decimal £1.

The £ (pound) stayed the same value after decimalisation. Is this useful? If so, please put a comment in the Forum Farthing: Click here to see a Farthing A farthing was the smallest unit of predecimal currency in the last 100 years. A farthing was one quarter (1/4) of a Penny. The last Farthing was minted in 1956. Half Penny: (plural: Halfpence) Click here to see a Half penny As the name suggests a 'Half Penny' was worth one Half (1/2) of a Penny. So two farthings also make up half a penny. The last half penny for circulation was dated 1967. Penny (or 1d): (plural: Pence) Click here to see a Penny The penny was really the basic unit of currency and had a lot more value than a modern 'New' Penny. There were 240 Pennies in a pre-decimal pound (£). The last penny for circulation was dated 1967.

Threepence (or 3d): Click here to see a Threepence The Threepence, or 'thropence' as it is also referred to was equal to three pennies. There were therefore eighty threepences in a pre-decimal pound (£). The last threepence for circulation was dated 1967. Sixpence (or 6d): Click here to see a Sixpence Also called a 'Tanner'. Obviously worth Six Pennies. There were forty sixpences in a pre-decimal pound (£). The last sixpence for circulation was dated 1967. Shilling (or 1/-): Click here to see a Shilling A shilling was worth twelve pennies. There were 20 in the pre-decimal pound (£). The shilling was replaced by the five new pence (1/20 of a decimal pound (£)). The last shilling for circulation was dated 1967 although they were used as Five pence pieces until the Five new pence (5p) coin was made smaller in 1990.

Florin (or Two Shillings, 2/-): Click here to see a Florin The Florin was worth 24 pre-decimal pence or two shillings. It was introduced by the Victorians in a step towards decimalisation, because it was worth one tenth of a pre-decimal pound (£). The last florin for circulation was dated 1967 although they were used as Ten new pence (10p) until the ten pence coin was made smaller in 1992. Half Crown (Two Shillings and sixpence or 2/6): Click here to see a Half Crown All the previous denominations have been worth double the denomination before them. That stops with the florin, as the Half Crown was worth 30 pre-decimal pence (or two shillings and six pence). There were eight Half Crowns in a pound (£) The last half crown for circulation was dated 1967. Crown (Five Shillings, 5s or 5/-) : Click here to see a Crown A Crown was worth 60 pre-decimal pence or one quarter of a pound (£).

Although in the last 30 years+ of the pre-decimal currency Crowns were really only issued to mark special occasions. Crowns are still minted today and have been asigned a new £5 face value since 1990. Half Sovereign and Sovereign: Click here to see a Sovereign. Sovereigns have a face value of 20 Shillings (or one pound) and Half Sovereigns of 10 Shillings. As they are made of 22ct Gold they have a much higher metal value and were not used as currency in recent years. Chris Perkins 6th January 2003, updated 28th July 2015. Did You Know? - Pre-Decimal Coins Did You Know? - Pre-Decimal Coins Pre-Decimal Crown Twelve pennies in a shilling and twenty shillings in a pound.... It's now over 40 years since the £ s d currency which had been used in the UK and Scotland was swept away and 240 pence to the pound were replaced by 100 new pence to the pound.

Decimal Day (15 February 1971) was when the changeover took place. You'll note that in the collection of pre-decimal coins below, there is not a pound coin, far less one for two pounds as we have today. That was because in 1971 there were paper pound notes in circulation and the pound coin was not introduced until 1983 to replace the Bank of England one pound note; the Scottish banks (who are permitted to issue banknots but not coins) continued to issue one pound notes - the Royal Bank of Scotland in particular kept them going, sometimes as special commemorative issues. See Scottish Banknotes . Farthing The word farthing is derived from the Anglo-Saxon feorthing, or fourth part An English penny. The farthing was first minted in silver in the 13th century and then after the Union of the Scottish and English Parliaments in 1707, a British farthing, made of base metal, was minted in 1714.

It continued to be used until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender and so were no longer in use by Decimal Day in 1971. Half Penny This coin began its 700 year history made from silver but as the value of silver increased, the coin was made from base metals. "Halfpenny", was pronounced HAY-pe-nee. It was long considered that the first halfpenny coins were produced in the reign of King Edward I (1272�1307), with earlier requirements for small change being provided by "cut coinage" - pennies cut into halves or quarters. However, in recent years metal detectorists have discovered a few halfpennies of Kings Henry I (1100�1135) and Henry III (1216�1272). The halfpenny ceased to be minted in 1969 prior to decimalisation. Penny The "penny" originated as far back as the 8th century when a silver coin was minted (in England) which was one 240th part of a pound weight of silver.

There were thus "240 pennies to a pound (of silver)". Pennies made of silver were minted until about 1750, then occasionally until about 1820; thereafter, they were only minted for Maundy money (when the British Monarch ceremonially distributes small silver coins known as "Maundy money" as symbolic alms to elderly recipients. From 1797, pennies for general circulation were minted in copper. Twelve pence made one shilling and so 240 pennies made a pound. To express an amount, penny was usually abbreviated to "d", e.g. 1d, from the Roman denarius. The penny introduced at decimalisation (with 100 pennies to the pound) was a much smaller coin and was initially called a "new penny" to distinguish it from its predecessor. The original reverse of the new coin initially had "NEW PENNY" in the design but this changed to just "ONE PENNY" in 1982.

"Silver" Threepence The silver three pence coin (expressed in writing as "3d") first appeared in England during the reign of King Edward VI (1547�1553). But it was unpopular as many preferred the four pence piece (known as a "groat") and there were times when it was not minted. During the reign of king George V (1910�1936) the silver content was reduced from sterling silver to a mixture of silver (50%),copper, and nickel and the design was completely changed in 1927 to three oak sprigs with three acorns and a "G" in the centre. By the end of George V's reign the threepence had become somewhat unpopular in England because of its small size, but it remained popular in Scotland. It may be that the custom of putting threepence coins (wrapped in greaseproof paper) into Christmas cakes may have contributed to its continued popularity! A nickel-brass threepence took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947.

Only small numbers were produced. Brass Threepence A new, larger, nickel-brass (79% copper, 20% zinc, 1% nickel) twelve-sided threepence coin was introduced at the time of the short reign of King Edward VIII and took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947. Initially the design incorporated a representation of the thrift plant but in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II the design became a Tudor portcullis with chains and a coronet. Following decimalisation, the brass threepence ceased to be legal tender after 31 August 1971. Sixpence The sixpence, worth six pre-decimal pennies, was known colloquially as a "tanner".

In England, the first sixpences were struck in the reign of Edward VI in 1551 and continued until they were rendered obsolete by decimalisation in 1971.The last general issue sixpence was issued in 1967 but sixpences continued to be legal tender at a value of 2� new pence until 30 June 1980. The coins were made of sterling silver until 1920, when they were reduced to 50 percent silver until 1946, after which they were changed to cupro-nickel from 1947 onwards. As the supply of silver threepence coins slowly disappeared, sixpences replaced them as the coins put into Christmas puddings. The traditional song "I've Got Sixpence" runs: "I've got sixpence. Jolly, jolly sixpence. I've got sixpence to last me all my life.

I've got twopence to spend and twopence to lend And twopence to send home to my wife." Shilling The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere. The abbreviation for shilling is the letter "s", from the Latin solidus, the name of a Roman coin. In England, a shilling coin was used from the reign of Henry II (or Edward VI ca 1550) until the Acts of Union ended the Kingdom of England (when, in the terms of Article 16 of the Articles of Union created by the Acts of Union of 1707, a common currency for the new United Kingdom was created). Because the shilling had the king's head on it, when a man agreed "to take the King's shilling" (or the Queen's shilling as the case may be) it meant that he agreed to serve as a soldier or sailor. Following decimalisation the British shilling was superseded by the five-pence piece with a comparable value, size and weight.

The pre-decimal shilling was withdrawn from circulation in 1990, when a five pence piece of reduced size was introduced. Two Shillings (Florin) The British two shilling coin, also known as the florin or "two bob bit" was issued from 1849 until 1967. It was worth one tenth of a pound, or twenty-four old pence. In 1847 a motion had been introduced in Parliament calling for the introduction of a decimal currency and the issue of coins of one-tenth and one-hundredth of a pound. The motion was subsequently withdrawn on the understanding that a one-tenth pound coin would be produced to test public opinion. There was considerable discussion about what the coin should be called, with centum, decade, and dime being among the suggestions. Eventually, florin was eventually settled upon, partly because of its connection with old English coinage, and partly because other European countries also had coins of approximately the same size and weight called florins.

In the reign of Queen Victoria a new design for the florin is said to have shock, including (allegedly) to Queen Victoria herself, was the omission of D G � Dei Gratia ("by the grace of God") � from the coin's inscription, which resulted in it being popularly known as the godless florin. The two shilling pieces produced in the reign of Queen Elizabeth II had the reverse showing a Tudor rose in the centre surrounded by thistles, shamrocks, and leeks, symbols for Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Half Crown This oddity, as the name suggests, was worth half of a crown, or equivalent to two and a half shillings (30 pennies). It has a long history, having been issued (in silver) as early as 1549, in the reign of Edward VI. The half crown was demonetised (ahead of other pre-decimal coins) on 1 January 1970, the year before the United Kingdom adopted decimal currency on Decimal Day.

In the reign of George VI (1937�1952), half crowns were 50% silver until 1946 when the metal was changed to cupro-nickel. Crown Although issued in England prior to the unification of Scotland and England, the British crown came into being with the Union of the Parliaments of England and Scotland in 1707. As with the English coin, its value was five shillings, which was a quarter of one pound. During the 19th and 20th centuries the Crown declined from being a real means of exchange to being a coin rarely spent but minted for commemorative purposes only. In that format it has continued to be minted into the 21st century, even following decimalization of the British currency in 1971. However, as the result of inflation the value of such crowns has been revised upwards to five pounds. The picture here is of the crown issued in 1953 and 1960 in Queen Elizabeth II's reign.

Decimalisation When computers came in the scene in the late 1950s and 1960s, they had to be programmed to deal with pounds, shillings and pence. Most systems converted values to pennies for internal working and converted them back to £,s,d when printed out or displayed on a computer screen. This was before pocket calculators had come on the scene - they would have struggled with £ s d.. But gradually, a decimal currency was seen to be more efficient. Of course, there was an emotional resistance from some to the loss of the traditional monetary system. Computer systems, banks and retailers had to prepare for the conversion well in advance of the cutover in 1971, not just for new and updated programs but also to train their staff in the new coins. As with the run-up to the Millennium, nearly 30 years later, all the hard work and preparations paid off and the changeover took place smoothly.

Banks were closed from 3:30pm on Wednesday, 10 February 1971 until 10:00am on Monday 15 February, to enable all outstanding cheques and credits in the clearing system to be processed and customers' account balances to be converted to decimal. New pennies and half penny coins were introduced but the old coins were temporarily assigned new values - the florin became 10 new pence, the shilling became 5 new pence and the old sixpenny coin filled a role as 2.5 new pence for a short while. To avoid confusion with the old currency, the term "New Pence" was brought into use with the letter "p" instead of the previous "d". Fairly rapidly, the general public dropped the word "new" and prices became what sounded like, for example "99 pee". Decimal Day itself went smoothly and after February 15, shops continued to accept payment in old coins, but always issued change in new coins. Use the "Back" button on your browser or click here to return to the Index of "Did You Know?" Where else would you like to go in Scotland?

Links Pages British Currency before 1971 British Currency before 1971 [ Victorian Web Home —> Political History —> Social History —> Religion —> Science —> Economics ] In these days of decimalisation of currency, it is difficult to understand the currency used in Britain before that country 'went decimal' in 1971. The following chart may help to explain it. Money was divided into pounds (ï¿½) shillings (s. or /-) and pennies (d.). Thus, 4 pounds, eight shillings and fourpence would be written as ï¿½4/8/4d. or ï¿½4-8-4d.

There were 20 shillings in ï¿½1 - a shilling was often called 'bob', so 'ten bob' was 10/- 12 pennies in1 shilling 240 pennies in ï¿½1 Pennies were broken down into other coins: a farthing (a fourth- thing) was ¼ of a penny a halfpenny (hay-p'ny) was ½ of a penny three farthings was ¾ of a penny Other coins of a value less than 1/- were a half-groat (2d) a threepenny bit (3d) made of silver 4 x 3d.

= 1/- sixpence (silver) - often called a 'tanner' 2 x 6d = 1/- Coins of more than 1/- but less than ï¿½1 in value were a two shilling piece (called a florin) 10 x 2/- = ï¿½1 a half-crown ( 2/6d) 8 x 2/6d = ï¿½1 a crown (5/-) 4 x 5/- = ï¿½1 ten shillings (a half-sovereign) 2 x 10/- = ï¿½1 a half-guinea (10/6d) 2 x 10/6d = ï¿½1/1/- A ï¿½1 coin was called a Sovereign and was made of gold. A paper pound often was called a 'quid'.

Coins of more than ï¿½1 were a guinea (ï¿½1/1/-) a ï¿½5 coin Pre-decimal currency A guide for those not old enough to remember "proper" money If you're younger than about 50 and you've been looking at our faretables , you may not understand the currency. Until 15th February 1971, the British currency was not decimalised. The basic units were the pound, the shilling, and the penny. These were represented by the letters L, S and D respectively, from the Latin libra, solidus and denarius (the pound sign ï¿½ that we still use today is simply an elaborate 'L'). There were 12 pennies in a shilling, and 20 shillings in the pound, hence 240 pence in a pound. Where you see amounts written like 1/6 in the faretables, this represents one shilling and sixpence. 2/9 represents two shillings and ninepence, and so on. 2/- means two shillings exactly.

Today, people will say the cost of something is "55 pee", for example, but in the pre-decimal era they did not say "7 dee". Amounts were always expressed as, for example, "sevenpence", "three and fourpence" (for three shillings and four pence), or "one pound seven and six." So if you wanted to travel from Bristol to Stroud on route 400 in 1959, the conductor would have asked you for "three and six, please," meaning thee shillings and sixpence (17.5p in today's money, but worth about ï¿½2.70 at today's prices). The coins themselves tended to be far larger than the modern ones: a penny was one and three-sixteenths of an inch across, bigger than any current coin including the ï¿½2 coin. The sixpence coin was slightly larger than the current 5p and the shilling slightly larger than a modern 10p coin. Part of the reason for their larger size was that they were worth a lot more.

For example, in 1960 a Penguin paperback book would probably have cost you 2/6, and today a similar book would probably cost ï¿½7 or ï¿½8. In 1959 a single bus ticket from Bristol to Chipping Sodbury on route 131 would have cost you 1/5, and today would cost somewhere around ï¿½4. This suggests that both books and bus ticket prices have risen faster than inflation, since 1/5 would be worth ï¿½1.08 today according to the National Archives' currency converter (this is a great site allowing price comparisons from the year 1270 onward). The other thing about the coins is that because they had remained unchanged for many years, you would find them with a variety of sovereign's heads on them, not just the Queen. Below are some examples, showing the Queen herself (looking rather younger), and Kings George V and George VI.

O’Brien Coin Guide: Irish Pre-Decimal Penny | The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of coins, tokens and banknotes The Old Currency Exchange is a specialist dealer and valuer of coins, tokens and banknotes The best-stocked coin and banknote shop in Ireland. We buy and sell old collections, attic accumulations and house-clearances. Exchange your old coins and banknotes for euro Menu The Old Currency Exchange / December 28, 2014 The penny (1d) (Irish: pingin) coin was the third smallest denomination of the pre-decimal Irish pound. There were 12 to a shilling, 24 to a florin and 240 to a pound. To express an amount, penny was abbreviated to “d”, e.g. shortened from dwt, or pennyweight. The penny is one of the longest circulating coin denominations in Europe – being in continuous use from Anglo-Saxon times to the present day in the UK, only recently obsolete (2002) here in Ireland when we converted to the Euro.

Anglo-Saxon Danelaw (c 898-915), Viking coinage of York, Cnut, penny, patriarchal cross, rev EB IΛR ICE I The Irish Vikings copied the Anglo-Saxon pennies when they produced Hiberno-Norse and Hiberno-Manx coins of their own for local and international trading purposes. Hiberno-Norse coinages, Sihtric Anlafsson, phase II The modern Irish penny was introduced in 1928 to replace its British counterpart, although the two co-existed for circulation purposes in Ireland up until the break with Sterling in 1979. Although these coins were produced by the Royal Mint in London, were the exact same dimensions as the British penny and our currency guaranteed by the Bank of England, Irish coins were not accepted as legal tender in the UK. British tourists and returning Irish expats often threw their loose change out of the train windows at Dun Laoghaire as they were about to embark on to the Mail Boat (ferry) to Holyhead – a great source of regular income for the local schoolboys that were brave enough to walk on to the tracks at the time.

1928-68 Irish Penny (reverse design) The last year of minting was 1968 and it ceased to be legal tender on 31 December 1971. The coin measured 1.215 inches (30.9 mm) in diameter and weighed 9.45 grams. This bronze coin comprised 95.5% copper, 3% tin and 1.5% zinc. The reverse of the penny was designed by the English artist Percy Metcalfe. It featured a hen and five chicks and the coin’s Irish name (pingin). The obverse featured the Irish harp. 1928-68 Irish Penny (reverse design) From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name Saorstát Éireann circling around. Pennies were minted in only 5 out of the possible ten years during the Saorstát years. Irish Free State 1968 chickless var. The 1938 Irish Penny The 1938 Irish penny is a great rarity and only 2 examples are known to date, i.e.

one is owned by the National Museum of Ireland and other is private hands. It is thought that they are trial pieces produced by the Royal Mint in London to test the resulting metal flow and other technical differences brought about by the new obverse design. This 1938 Irish penny has been ‘faked’ and offered for sale on eBay – see my other blog article for more information on the 1938 Irish Penny . The “chickless” varieties The ‘chickless’ variety is probably a die flaw caused by normal ‘wear and tear’ on the dies during the minting process. This variety has become very popular with collectors over the past decade and some claim to have evidence of “progressive wear across several examples of 1968 pennies” leading to a chickless coin. Irish Penny: the one on the left is a ‘normal’ penny, whereas the example on the right is the ‘chickless’ variety. The most obvious difference is that the ‘chickless’ penny has the body of the second chick missing in the area behind the hen’s leg.

The head of the chick is quite clear to the left of the hen’s leg, but the curve of the chick’s belly and the top of its leg are completely missing from the areas to the right of the hen’s leg. There is also a tiny remnant of the chick’s leg visible just above the exergue line. One might also note that the chicken’s far wing – visible behind the raised foot – is smaller on the ‘chickless’ variety. This variety occurs on the 1942 and 1968 Irish pennies. Other years (1948 and 1966) have been reported but not yet substantiated. Contrary to some opinions, there is definitely a premium on these coins. The great vending machine scam of 1990 When the Irish currency was decimalised in 1971, in parallel with the British currency, the new Irish coins mirrored the dimensions of their UK counterparts.

This was done because :- The Irish currency was linked to the British Pound until 1979 All Irish coins were produced by the Royal Mint up until 1978, and the dies for the new Irish decimal currency were also produced there, although the actual coin production now switched to the Central Bank of Ireland Mint at Sandyford, Co Dublin. Only after 1979 did Irish decimal coins vary from their British counterparts, i.e. small 5p and 10p, and the new 20p and £1 (punt) coins. On June 20th, 1990 a new Irish “punt” coin was introduced and, although less than 20 years had elapsed since the old Irish penny (pre-decimal) was withdrawn, the Dublin hucksters had not forgotten about it, i.e. it had very similar dimensions to the old Irish penny.

30.9 mm in diameter and weighing 9.45 grams 31.1 mm in diameter and weighing 10.00 grams I remember this ‘scam’ because I attended a coin fair in Dublin’s Mansion House the following weekend and lots of Dublin teenagers were buying my old pennies @ 6 for £1, going out to vending machines in local pubs, fraudulently obtaining an 82% discount, re-selling the goods and rapidly returning for more coins. The event was memorable because I sold hundreds of cheap penny coins to people whom I would not expect to collect old pennies in such large quantities. The following week, there were rumours that one publican lost over £20,000 from his cigarette vending machines in the city centre. The vending machines were quickly re-calibrated to recognise the small differences between the old and new coins. A further twist to this ‘scam’ occurred in 1999, when Irish punt coins dated 1999 (produced by the Royal Mint in London and not the Central Bank of Ireland in Sandyford) were rejected by many ‘super sensitive’ vending machines (incl.

parking meters in Dublin) as they were lighter than the standard coins, having been produced from a different alloy. ______________________________________________________ If you found this article useful, please connect to me on LinkedIn and endorse some of my skills. Pre-decimal British coinage | Uncyclopedia | Fandom powered by Wikia Whoops! Maybe you were looking for LSD ? “If I give you a sovereign, can I see your thruppenny bits?” ~ Noel Coward Fifty pre-decimal pennies from 1959. This much money would have been sufficient to purchase a four-bedroomed house and a Morris Oxford V . Prior to decimalisation, when Great Britain and Ireland adopted a confusing monetary system based around a pound made up of one hundred pennies, a far more logical system known as LSD was used. L, S and D are the first letters of the names given to the different units of coin - L obviously stands for pounds and D stands for pennies (or pence). So far, everything is straightforward. Oddly however, S stands for shillings.

Though pre-decimal currency is thought confusing by people under the age of 40 and foreigners , it really was much easier than the current system - and will undoubtedly be reintroduced if right-thinking British people get their way - as we shall see here. For the religious among us who choose to believe lies, the so-called experts at Wikipedia have an article about Pre-decimal British coinage . Contents [ show ] Farthing A farthing was equal to one quarter of a penny and would have been the weekly wage expected by the average working man up until the late 1920s when the Great Depression caused wages to fall dramatically. Very few women worked in those days (those that did were generally engaged in traditional female employment and were looked down upon by society); those that did were paid less than this amount because, strange as it may seem in these times of equality , it was then considered that a woman's work was worth less than a man's. However, as there was no coin worth less than a farthing, a group of four women would have to share one farthing between themselves and grocery shop as a group, splitting the purchases amongst themselves after buying.

Although the farthing was insufficient to purchase anything at all post-1950, the coin was kept in circulation because the British population with their nostalgic love of pointless tradition had a great fondness for it and the cute picture of a wren on the back. Farthings were 13 inches wide, 4 inches thick and weighed 60lb. Halfpenny Two farthings made a halfpenny which had a depiction of a galleon in full sail on the obverse as a reminder of our proud nation's glorious naval tradition which led to the Empire and all the good things that came of it. A halfpenny was what your grandad got for his weekly pocket money when he was seven years old back in 1920 and, as he's so fond of telling you, was enough money to see a western of a Saturday afternoon and still have enough change left over for a bag of chips and a packet of Woodbines on the way home. A halfpenny was much smaller than a farthing in order to be more portable, measuring just 10 inches across and 2.5 inches thick with a weight of only 36lb.

Penny This old dear is having a well-earned breather after carrying her penny halfway to the village shop. When she gets there, she'll spend it on catfood , cabbages , whisky and her BNP membership fee. Four farthings or two halfpennies made a penny, an incredible sum of money to the working classes , and enough to buy a modern house with sufficiently modern facilities as to be hygienic enough that only four of your twelve children would die before their first birthdays. 240 pennies made a pound, with each coin measuring just under 41 inches wide and 11 inches thickness with a weight of 134lb. As previously mentioned, penny was abbreviated to d. As seen in the photograph, one penny was the state weekly pension for many years. However, as Britain has become more prosperous, the pension has risen time and time again with many elderly people now living luxuriously on pensions of as much as twenty times this amount. Threepence The threepence coin, known as a threepenny bit.

The uniquely-shaped threepence coin, known as threepenny bit, was a convex regular polytope with a symmetry group of four-dimensional space, being a uniform star-polychoron the cells of which were 720 intersecting congruent pentagonal prisms of 120 vertices, 1200 edges, 1800 square faces and 720 pentagonal faces to connect the pentagonal prism cells to one another. Sixty cells came together at every vertex, and the squares were also faces of a uniform compound created of 75 tesseracts while the pentagons were also the faces of a standard star-polychoron. It measured a mere 8 inches across (its span of 7.32 lightyears in the 5th dimension was with typical British chippiness ignored by most citizens). It was 10 inches thick and weighed 96lb. . During the 1960's, it was not unknown for the threepenny bit to be given to children in Scotland for use for their church collection.

Sixpence Equal to Britain's entire defence budget in 1935, the sixpence was an enormously popular coin because, unlike those previously mentioned, it was made of a nice shiny metal and therefore looked all pretty and silvery . Interestingly, the modern 5p piece - which everybody hates and moans about because they say it's too small and gets stuck in the corners of your purse - is exactly the same dimensions as the old sixpence which was possibly the best-loved coin ever. There were 40 sixpences in a pound. Shilling Those who were tricked into taking the King's shilling would rapidly find themselves in the Navy, like these two unfortunates. Modern Navy uniforms are more revealing than these antique versions. Two sixpences or 12d made a shilling. The word shilling gave us the term shillinglaw, a practise by which naval recruitment officers would enter alehouses and place a shilling into the flagon of any healthy-looking males. If the drinker was unwary enough as to accidentally swallow the coin, he would be deemed to have "taken the King's shilling" and as such was officially now signed up as a member of the Navy .

He would then be hauled off to the nearest docks and put aboard a warship where his new career as a sailor would begin. So that it might be swallowed more easily, the shilling was a far smaller coin than those other mentioned here with a diameter of just 6 inches, a thickness of 2 inches and a weight of 14lb. 20 shillings made a pound. Florin A florin was equal to two shillings or 24d and was introduced during Victorian times in preparation for decimalisation, there being ten of them to a pound - in the usual British fashion, decimalisation didn't happen for another century due to having to pass through the House of Lords before being put into practice - and anything passing through the Lords, the members of which are generally well into their later years, can take a very long time indeed. A florin was slightly larger than a shilling, being 35 inches in width and 10 inches thick with a weight of 49lb. Half Crown The previous coins are all worth twice the amount of the coin below them in value with the exception of the threepence which was worth three times the coin below it.

This was considered illogical and likely to lead to confusion, so the half crown was worth two shillings and sixpence or 30d, written as 2/6, and as such there were eight of them to a pound. The British population were outraged when the coin was discontinued with the advent of decimalisation in 1971 as it had been a feature of the British way of life since time immemorial along with other popular venerable traditions such as cholera and smallpox . Made of wrought iron , the half crown was 32 inches across, 10 inches thick and weighed in at 42lb. Rather than being melted down for metal to make the new decimalised coinage in 1971, half crowns were put into use as manhole covers. These coins were also sellotaped to a Christmas or Birthday Card sent to you by relatives you didn't see very often, under the impression they'd given you a great deal of money to spend in the sales on new toys or the latest Bunty Annual. Double Florin This was introduced in Queen Victoria's Jubilee year of 1887, supposedly in an attempt to prepare for decimalisation.

As it was worth 4/- or 48d it's not clear where the arithmetic of this plan was going. They gave up minting it in 1890 but it was never withdrawn as legal tender, and since decimalisation its face value has been exactly 20p. However, as it is 22.6 grams of Sterling silver and rather rare you'd have to be Terry Fuckwitt to try spending one as a 20p piece. Equally, if someone tried to give you a Victorian double florin instead of a 20p piece you'd have to be Terry Fuckwitt to refuse it. Crown Once again, the system returns to a coin being worth double the value of the coin below it as a crown was worth two half crowns - 60d, or one quarter of a pound. Crowns are still minted and remain legal tender today, and so as not to confuse anyone have a value of five pounds.

Contrary to popular belief, the crown is not so-called after the symbol of the British monarchy but due to the fact that its size (18 inches wide, 4 inches thick) made it ideal as emergency headgear should one be caught out in a shower. Since they were made of gold-coloured metal, placing one upon the head would make the wearer look as though they were wearing a crown. A 1911 sovereign. Modern versions do not have the depiction of St. George killing the dragon after protests by anti-bloodsport campaigners persuaded the Royal Mint to change the design in 1988. Compare this £1 coin to the image on the left of the page. When first introduced, the £1 was known as a Thatcher because it was thick, brassy and thought it was a sovereign. Half Sovereign The half sovereign was worth ten shillings, 120d or two crowns. Half sovereigns are popular when made into rings, as worn by the wives and girlfriends of the sort of men mentioned in the section on sovereigns as females find the smaller size - just 19 inches wide, 9 inches thick with a weight of 73lb - more comfortable to wear.

Sovereign Sovereigns are worth far more than their face value nowadays as they've become popular when set into rings to make a very tasteful and attractive item of jewelry available from high class jewellers . These rings are commonly worn by chavs and large, bald-headed men because, in addition to their aesthetic value, they serve as very effective knuckle-dusters. Sovereigns were 45 inches across, 19 inches thick and weighed 105lb - explaining why the people who wear them as rings tend to drag their knuckles on the ground while walking. The Queen is still paid in sovereigns. Every Wednesday, she and Prince Philip travel by a special Rolls-Royce bus run by London Transport just for them to Pall Mall Post Office where they collect their pensions which, combined, amount to some sixteen million sovereigns - a small price for the nation to pay in return for the hard work they do.

Her Majesty then visits the same back-street hairdresser she has been going to since 1903 for her weekly shampoo, set and blue rinse while Philip puts a bet on at the bookies and then has haddock and a small portion of mushy peas for his lunch since he finds the crispy bits in chips uncomfortable to chew with his false teeth. This done, the bus conveys them to Morrison's supermarket where they purchase tinned food for their corgis and, if the gas bill doesn't have to be paid that week, treat themselves to a nice cup of tea and a bun. Guinea This gold coin was meant to be worth one pound Sterling, but being real gold its actual value fluctuated all over the place thanks to the venal machinations of international currency speculators - not like today at all, eh? Eventually its value was fixed at 21/- and it was largely replaced by the Sovereign. However prices in guineas were still used by furniture salesmen, car dealers and bookmakers, all of whom wanted to mislead their customers as much as possible.

Decimalisation in 1971 finally banned pricing things in guineas, since which time the sharks have had to find other ways of confusing and fleecing the unwary. Pronunciation Many a German spy was captured and imprisoned during World War 2 when they nonchalantly strolled into a village shop to purchase those items essential to a Nazi abroad such as lager , Volkswagen spares and the Daily Mail . They'd probably have got away with it too, had the British not cunningly decided to pronounce the names of certain coins of the realm in peculiar ways that Johnny Foreigner would have no hope of ever coming to grips with. Every shopkeeper in the country knew that, should any shifty-looking types enter their premises and pronounce the names of any of the coins phonetically, they should immediately phone the Home Guard.

To pronounce the names properly and thus avoid looking like a foreigner, simply refer to this simple guide: Farthing - mag Halfpenny - hape-nee The penny was pronounced as the spelling suggests, but just to be on the safe side two pennies (2d) would be pronounced tuppence Threepence - thruppnee bit or throopnee bit, depending on region Sixpence - tanner Half Crown - arfer craan, affa crone or even arf dollar, depending on region Pound - quid Such a system would reveal even fluent English speakers, as nobody but a true Britisher could ever linguistically cope with, " two shillings and thruppunce," "tuppunce hap-nee" or "'alf a bob" without becoming hopelessly tongue-tied and revealing their true origins. Maundy Money Also known by pedants and pub bores by its full name The Queen's Maundy Money and donated by her to deserving poor folks in a religious ceremony dating back to 600AD which is traditionally carried out on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter .

Originally, the ceremony involved the Archbishop of Canterbury washing poor people's feet, to mark the washing of the Disciples' feet by Christ ; this was rapidly changed to the charitable donation of money when it was decided that royalty should carry out the tradition as no British person would ever wish to see the hands of their beloved monarch touch something so vile as a poor person. Special Maundy coinage is produced yearly by the Royal Mint in the form of silver coins with denominations of one penny, two pennies, three pennies and four pennies (known as a groat). The amount donated is decided not by the recipient's need but in accordance with the monarch's age - thus in 2006, when Queen Elizabeth turned 80, 80 pence was donated to 80 poor people in a ceremony held at Guildford Cathedral . That year, in a display of astonishing generosity from the aristocracy, the selected poor also received a commemorative £5 coin marking Her Majesty's birthday and a special 50p coin to mark the 150th anniversary of the Victoria Cross medal.

As the grateful recipients filed out of the cathedral amongst much pomp and splendour, one lucky elderly gent was heard to mutter, "£6.30. That's going to keep the heating bills paid this winter. Thanks, you tight ol' cow." See Also

Question: In British currency, how many pre-decimal pennies were in a pound?
Answer: 240