Until 1971 British money did not work in tens. It ran on a system inherited from the Romans via Charlemagne, and it required every citizen to do arithmetic in twelves and twenties several times a day.
The system
- 12 pennies (d) = 1 shilling (s)
- 20 shillings = 1 pound (£)
- Therefore 240 pennies to the pound
The abbreviations come from Latin — librae, solidi, denarii — which is why a penny was “d” and not “p”. Prices were written £2 17s 6d, said as “two pounds, seventeen and six”, or often just “seventeen and six”.
The supporting cast
- Farthing — quarter of a penny. Withdrawn 1960.
- Ha’penny — half a penny, pronounced HAY-p-nee.
- Thruppenny bit — three pence, a distinctive twelve-sided brass coin.
- Sixpence — the “tanner”, traditionally hidden in the Christmas pudding.
- Shilling — the “bob”. “Ten bob” was ten shillings, half a pound.
- Florin — two shillings, and an early decimal experiment, being one tenth of a pound.
- Half crown — two shillings and sixpence. Much loved and much missed.
- Guinea — 21 shillings. Never a coin after 1814, but the unit in which gentlemen’s bills, professional fees and horses were quoted.
Decimal Day
On 15 February 1971 Britain converted to 100 pence to the pound. It was chosen as a Monday in the quietest trading week of the year, banks closed for four days to convert their accounts, and the country was blanketed in explanatory leaflets and television broadcasts.
It went remarkably smoothly, with two lasting complaints. The elderly found the change genuinely difficult, having spent a lifetime with the old system. And a great many people were convinced — with some justification, since prices were frequently rounded up — that decimalisation was used as cover for inflation.
What survives
Guineas are still used at bloodstock auctions and in some horse racing prize money; the Classic races are still the 1,000 and 2,000 Guineas. The shilling lived on in the phrase “bob”, and older Britons still occasionally price things in it.
The florin and shilling coins remained legal as 10p and 5p pieces until the 1990s, so for two decades after decimalisation you could still find genuine Victorian coins in your change.
The language it left behind
Old money is embedded in English idiom. To spend a penny (use the lavatory, from coin-operated locks), turn on a sixpence, the sixty-four thousand dollar question‘s British cousin a penny for your thoughts, in for a penny, in for a pound, and to take the King’s shilling, meaning to enlist.