Old money

[cheesygirl]

I'm posting this for my own reference mainly, since if I just xerox it I'll lose it, and I'll forget where I saw it otherwise. This is an explanation of old English currency, from Victorian London: The Tale of a City, 1840-1870, by Liza Picard. Others might find it interesting/useful.


Copper or bronze coins in circulation began at a farthing, worth a quarter of a penny, then a halfpenny (pronounced 'haypenny'), a penny, a two-penny piece and a four-penny piece. There were twelve pennies in a shilling.

Silver coins in circulation began at a three-penny (pronounced 'thripenny') bit, then a sixpence, a shilling, a florin worth 2 shillings, a half-crown and a crown worth 5 shillings. There were 20 shillings in the £.

Gold coins in circulation were half-sovereigns and sovereigns. A sovereign was worth £1. It was about the size of a modern £1 piece, but heavier.

A guinea was used to express professional fees and in other prestigious spheres. It was not a coin. It was worth £1 1s.

After 1844 all banknotes were issued by the Bank of England, for £5, £10, £20, £100, £200, £500, and £1000.

Comments

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

Hee! I never got the hang of pre-decimal currency myself!

Even though we changed systems in 1969 I still remember 1 shilling pieces being used as 5p pieces and florins (2 shillings) being used as 10p pieces when I was a kid - they were exactly the same size, shape & colour as the 'modern' 5p & 10p.


The funniest thing is our current 5ps are teeny tiny and are just like the cute little sixpences we dug out of my grandparents' bedroom drawers ;-)

[mishloran.livejournal.com]

Man, I STILL hate the new 5ps, they're really annoyingly small. (But I guess it does differentiate them as they used to be around the same size of the 10p, didn't they?)

What do you think of the new design £20 notes? Flashy, eh?

And now my reply to the post itself:

After 1844 all banknotes were issued by the Bank of England, for £5, £10, £20, £100, £200, £500, and £1000.

Intriguing. Do you know when the £50 note came into circulation!

Learning about my country from foreigners is fun! (I have no idea 'bout old money. I come from the land of the metric! I also do not entirely understand feet and inches, or ounces? Although I do know that "half an ounce" roughly equals 12.5g, because sometimes that's what the old people ask for if they want a small packet of tabacco!)

[cheesygirl.livejournal.com]

There was a teeeeensy coin I used in the Netherlands, I think it was the equivalent of a dime here. Tiny little thing, weighed nothing!

I don't know about the £50 note. I looked up British currency in wikipedia so they might mention it there. I did find out that the farthing was discontinued in 1960. I know more about farthings than I ever thought I would. :P

See now, I have trouble with metric stuff. I'm so used to ounces and quarts and feet and inches. We learned metric as early as elementary school but it never really stuck with me.

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

I think our new 5p is probably a bit smaller (and definitely lighter) than the dime.

Our new notes look like Monopoly money :-P

[cheesygirl.livejournal.com]

I would think the metric would be easier to manage, as the old system was so uneven. Twelve of this equaled one of that, and one of this was twenty of that, etc. Gah! Working by tens is just so much easier.

I've always wondered exactly what a "farthing" was worth, and now I know! :D

[murielle.livejournal.com]

This takes me back. I spent several years of my childhood in Scotland and so "grew up" with the old system. I've never understood the new system.

[cheesygirl.livejournal.com]

I've always wondered how it worked. I imagine it took a bit of getting used to, although the metric system seems less complicated.

[padawanpooh.livejournal.com]

I remember Ace struggling with it in Remembrance of the Daleks

/geekiness