Before 1971, navigating English money was a unique experience. Unlike today’s decimal system, the currency was based on pounds, shillings, and pence, a structure that can seem quite complex to modern eyes. Understanding these pre-decimal denominations offers a fascinating glimpse into British history and its financial past.
Alt text: Historical engraving of a minting workshop, illustrating the production of pre-decimal English coins, from a 19th-century children’s educational book on arithmetic.
The fundamental units of this system were:
- Pound (£): The largest unit.
- Shilling (s): A subdivision of the pound.
- Penny (d): A subdivision of the shilling.
Here’s how they related to each other:
- One pound (£1) was equal to 20 shillings.
- One shilling (1s) was equal to 12 pennies (12d).
- One penny (1d) could be further divided into smaller units: two halfpennies or four farthings.
This meant there were a total of 240 pennies in a single pound, a stark contrast to the decimal system of 100 pence per pound we use today.
Common Abbreviations in Pre-Decimal Currency
To further understand historical texts and documents referencing money, it’s essential to recognize the common abbreviations used:
| Abbreviation | Meaning |
|---|---|
| £ | Pound. Derived from the Latin word ‘libra’, meaning ‘pound weight’. The symbol evolved from an ornate capital ‘L’. |
| s | Shilling. From ‘sesterius’ or ‘solidos’, Roman coins. |
| d | Penny. From ‘denarius’, another Roman coin. |
| ob | Halfpenny. Abbreviation of ‘obulus’, a smaller Roman coin, indicating half the value of a penny in Roman terms. |
| qua | Farthing. Short for ‘quadrans’, meaning a quarter of a penny. ‘Farthing’ itself is Old English for ‘fourth-thing’, highlighting its fractional value of a penny. |
Monetary amounts were recorded in various formats. Full amounts of pounds, shillings, and pence could be written as:
- £1 9s 6d
- £1.9.6
- £1/9/6d
- £1-9-6
Shillings and pence were often noted as:
- 9s 6d
- 9/6 (spoken as “nine and six”)
Shillings alone were represented as:
- 9s
- 9/- (the dash indicating zero pence)
Historically, particularly before the 17th century, lowercase Roman numerals were also used:
- ixs vjd (representing 9 shillings and 6 pence)
Coins and Units of Pre-Decimal English Money
Beyond the basic units, various coins with specific names and values circulated. These denominations offer a richer understanding of everyday transactions in pre-decimal Britain:
| Coin | Amount |
|---|---|
| ¼ d | Farthing |
| ½ d | Halfpenny (‘haypny’ or ‘ha’penny’) |
| ¾ d | Three farthings |
| 1d | Penny |
| 2d | Two pennies / ‘tuppence’ |
| 3d | Three pennies / ‘threepenny bit’ (‘thrupny’ or ‘thruppence’) |
| 4d | Groat (until 1662, briefly revived mid-19th century) |
| 6d | Sixpence / ‘tanner’ |
| 1s | Shilling / ‘bob’ |
| 2s | Two shillings / ‘florin’ |
| 2s 6d | Half a crown |
| 5s | Crown |
| 10s | Ten shillings / ‘half sovereign’ |
| £1 | One pound / ‘sovereign’ / ‘quid’ |
| £1 1s | One pound and one shilling (21 shillings) / ‘guinea’ |
Notably, the ‘mark’, worth 13s 4d (two-thirds of a pound), was a unit of account but not a physical coin. It was frequently used for financial record-keeping.
The Shift to Decimalization
On February 15th, 1971, Britain adopted decimal currency. The pound (£) was retained as the main unit, but it was now divided into 100 pence (p). This transition redefined the value of the old denominations in decimal terms:
| Old Currency | Decimal Equivalent |
|---|---|
| 6d | 2½ p |
| 1s | 5p |
| 2s | 10p |
| 10s | 50p |
| £1 | £1 |
Interestingly, some pre-decimal coins remained in circulation for a period after decimalization, representing their new decimal values. The sixpence, then worth 2½p, was withdrawn in 1980. Shilling and two-shilling coins, repurposed as 5p and 10p pieces, were phased out in 1990 and 1992, respectively. For about a decade post-decimalization, newly minted coins were marked ‘New Pence’ to differentiate them from the old pennies.
Understanding English Money Denominations before decimalization reveals a rich history and a system that, while complex, played a vital role in British commerce and daily life for centuries.
