History UsefulNotes / OldBritishMoney

* "Pavarotti" – tenner (Because Luciano Pavarotti was a ''tenor'', [[DontExplainTheJoke get it]]?)

Suggested viewing: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2paSGQRwvo Pounds, shillings, and pence: a history of English coinage]] over on the You Tubes.

Silver coloured, hence the name but they are in fact made of an alloy that's 75% copper and 25% nickel with one notable exception

In 1984 the old one dollar note was phased out and replaced by a coin made of 92% copper, 6% aluminium and 2% nickel which results in a gold coloured alloy. The same was done again with the two dollar note in 1988. Both versions have had commemorative versions made since their introduction, though only a few for the $2 coin.

References to pre-decimalisation currency will often say that a shilling was worth 5 pence. This is because when the changeover was effected, one old pound had to equal one new pound despite the former having 240 pence and the latter 100. This is because sterling was, and to an extent still is, a major reserve currency; messing with its value would have been too much of a headache for central banks.[[note]](As mentioned below, this is in contrast to the former sterling countries like Australia and New Zealand, where decimalisation had one pound equal ''two'' dollars, or ten shillings to a dollar: this let 1/-, 2/- and 5/- coins be easily swapped out for 10c, 20c and 50c respectively.[[/note]] Therefore, all smaller denominations had to be converted in proportion to the pound. One old shilling (12d or old pence) was converted to 5 new pence[[note]](and no, 'new pence' is not pronounced "nuppence")[[/note]] and thereby remained one-twentieth of a pound. 'How many pence made up a shilling?' is therefore a common trick question in quizzes and the like. Note that this meant that one new penny was actually worth slightly more than ''two'' old pence, by 1/600th of a pound (between a farthing and a ha'penny). Post-decimalisation, the old shilling coins continued to be used for many years as 5p alongside their same-sized decimal replacements, as did florins for 10p. They finally went out of circulation in the 1990s when the size of 5p and 10p coins was reduced.

References to pre-decimalisation currency will often say that a shilling was worth 5 pence. This is because when the changeover was effected, one old pound had to equal one new pound despite the former having 240 pence and the latter 100. This is because sterling was, and to an extent still is, a major reserve currency; messing with its value would have been too much of a headache for central banks.[[note]](As mentioned below, this is in contrast to the former sterling countries like Australia and New Zealand, where decimalisation had one pound equal ''two'' dollars, or ten shillings to a dollar: this let 1/-, 2/- and 5/- coins be easily swapped out for 10c, 20c and 50c respectively.[/note]] Therefore, all smaller denominations had to be converted in proportion to the pound. One old shilling (12d or old pence) was converted to 5 new pence[[note]](and no, 'new pence' is not pronounced "nuppence")[[/note]] and thereby remained one-twentieth of a pound. 'How many pence made up a shilling?' is therefore a common trick question in quizzes and the like. Note that this meant that one new penny was actually worth slightly more than ''two'' old pence, by 1/600th of a pound (between a farthing and a ha'penny). Post-decimalisation, the old shilling coins continued to be used for many years as 5p alongside their same-sized decimal replacements, as did florins for 10p. They finally went out of circulation in the 1990s when the size of 5p and 10p coins was reduced.

References to pre-decimalisation currency will often say that a shilling was worth 5 pence. This is because when the changeover was effected, one old pound had to equal one new pound despite the former having 240 pence and the latter 100. This is because sterling was, and to an extent still is, a major reserve currency; messing with its value would have been too much of a headache for central banks.[[note]](As mentioned below, this is in contrast to the former sterling countries like Australia, which kept their ''penny'' values the same and simply changed what those pennies added up to – 100 to a dollar instead of 240 to a pound – and got rid of shillings completely.)[[/note]] Therefore, all smaller denominations had to be converted in proportion to the pound. One old shilling (12d or old pence) was converted to 5 new pence[[note]](and no, 'new pence' is not pronounced "nuppence")[[/note]] and thereby remained one-twentieth of a pound. 'How many pence made up a shilling?' is therefore a common trick question in quizzes and the like. Note that this meant that one new penny was actually worth slightly more than ''two'' old pence, by 1/600th of a pound (between a farthing and a ha'penny). Post-decimalisation, the old shilling coins continued to be used for many years as 5p alongside their same-sized decimal replacements, as did florins for 10p. They finally went out of circulation in the 1990s when the size of 5p and 10p coins was reduced.

Interestingly, it hasn't been unknown for small American coins to slip into circulation in Britain, because the cent, dime and nickel, at least superficially, resemble the 1p, 5p and 10p coins in terms of size and colour. Or perhaps "color". The biggest thing that catches them out is their weight - they are a little bit lighter. Similarly, 1-euro coins have been known to slip into circulation in the UK because of their superficial resemblance to the new £1 coin, even though the 1-euro us round and the £1 dodecagonal.

Interestingly, it hasn't been unknown for small American coins to slip into circulation in Britain, because the cent, dime and nickel, at least superficially, resemble the 1p, 5p and 10p coins in terms of size and colour. Or perhaps "color". The biggest thing that catches them out is their weight - they are a little bit lighter.

* Florin – 2/- (two shillings, or 24d; one tenth of a pound). So named for its similarity in size and value to the Dutch ''gulden'' coin of the same era, which for complicated historical reasons was often called a "florin" and had the currency symbol 'f' or 'fl'. Also known as 'two bob', as a shilling was often known as a 'bob' (as in "worth a couple of bob"). This coin was introduced in 1849 as an experimental first stage in decimalising the currency - although this coin survived, nothing else happened for nearly 120 years.

The pound's full name is the 'pound sterling', [[note]] Also known as a quid[[/note]] denoting that a pound was originally a gold coin (called a sovereign[[note]](a now rare slang term for a pound is a "sov")[[/note]]) equal in value to one troy pound in weight of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_silver sterling silver]]. The "shilling" [[note]]which is descended from an Old English word meaning "to cut" or "separate"[[/note]] was originally a unit of account derived from it being a 1/20th "division" of the pound (and not because it was the price of a sheep or cow in Kent as is popularly believed.). Originally, a penny was 1/240th of a pound of sterling silver[[note]](to this day, a 'pennyweight' is an apothecary unit equal to 1/240th of a Troy pound, or 1/20th of a Troy ounce)[[/note]] – about 1.4 grams, which is worth about 80p as of November 2022. The gold sovereign was replaced by the paper £1 note during World War I, though it briefly returned to circulation from 1918 into the 1920's until banknotes fully replaced them. Notably, despite the sovereign no longer being intended for circulation, it - along with the half sovereign, rare double sovereign and even-rarer quintuple sovereign - saw a resumption of production in the latter half of the 20th century. The coins also survived decimalisation in 1971, and in the present day are made as collector's and bullion pieces, with face values of £1, 50p, £2 and £5, respectively. That being said, you would be pretty stupid to spend them for what they're worth in face value instead of hanging on to them for their metal content and numismatic value.

* Also, especially during the Georgian era you would find "conder", "blacksmith" or "evasion" tokens - a bewildering array of pseudo-coins produced simply because there wasn't enough actual currency in circulation for the public's needs. As long as they didn't exactly match "regal" coinage, these tokens "evaded" counterfeiting laws; therefore you might pay with something that resembled a halfpenny, but had [[Creator/WilliamShakespeare Shakespeare's profile]] replacing that of the monarch on the obverse, and the phrase "Bonny Isle" instead of "Britannia" on the reverse.

The pound's full name is the 'pound sterling', [[note]] Also known as a quid[[/note]] denoting that a pound was originally a gold coin (called a 'sovereign'[[note]](a now rare slang term for a pound is a "sov")[[/note]]) equal in value to one troy pound in weight of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sterling_silver sterling silver]]. The "shilling" [[note]]which is descended from an Old English word meaning "to cut" or "separate"[[/note]] was originally a unit of account derived from it being a 1/20th "division" of the pound (and not because it was the price of a sheep or cow in Kent as is popularly believed.). Originally, a penny was 1/240th of a pound of sterling silver[[note]](to this day, a 'pennyweight' is an apothecary unit equal to 1/240 of a Troy pound, or 1/20 of a Troy ounce)[[/note]] – about 1.4 grams, which was worth about 80p as of November 2022. The golden sovereign was replaced by the paper £1 note during World War I.