The data used in this currency converter comes from our historical records such as those of the royal household and Exchequer. These documents may record large purchases by government institutions rather than ordinary retail prices, and wages of skilled craftsmen rather than the general level of earnings. First time in the UK and can't get your head around the UK currency? Check out our video to familiarise yourself with the British coins and notes!
Please note: We have mainly written about England, as that is the country within the UK where our students live. We would be very happy for schools and visitors to send us information we can add to our website on Wales and Scotland. After the Norman Conquest in 1066, the pound was divided into twenty shillings or 240 pennies. It remained so until decimalization on 15 February 1971, when the pound was divided up as it is still done today. Before 1971 money was divided into:
Before decimalization on 15 February 1971, there were twenty (20) shillings per pound. The shilling was subdivided into twelve (12) pennies. The penny was further sub-divided into two halfpennies or four farthings (quarter pennies). 2 farthings = 1 halfpenny
Symbols The symbols 's' for shilling and 'd' for pence derive from the Latin solidus and denarius used in the Middle Ages. The '£' sign developed from the 'l' for libra.
One pound A £1 coin was called a Sovereign and was made of gold. A paper pound often was called a quid. More than a pound (£) 1 guinea and a £5.0.0 note 1 guinea = £1-1s-0d ( £1/1/- ) = one pound and one shilling = 21 shillings or 21/- (which is £1.05 in todays money) 1 guinea could be written as '1g' or '1gn'. A guinea was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. A third of a guinea equalled exactly seven shillings. Why guinea? Because the Guinea coast was fabled for its gold, and its name became attached to other things like guinea fowl, and New Guinea.
Less than a pound (£) Shilling and pennies 'Bob' is slang for shilling (which is 5p in todays money) 1 shilling equalled twelve pence (12d). £1 (one pound) equalled 20shillings (20s or 20/-) 240 pennies ( 240d ) = £1 There were 240 pennies to a pound because originally 240 silver penny coins weighed 1 pound (1lb). A sum of £3 12s 6d was normally written as £3-12-6, but a sum of 12s 6d was normally recorded as 12/6. Amounts less than a pound were also written as: 12/6 meaning 12s-6d 10/- meaning ten shillings. An amount such as 12/6 would be pronounced 'twelve and six' as a more casual form of 'twelve shillings and sixpence'. More than a Shilling (s. or /- )Coins of more than one shilling ( 1/- ) but less than £1 in value were:
Less than a Shilling (s. or /- )
The word threepence would often be pronounced as though there was only a single middle 'e', therefore 'thre-pence'. The slang name for the coin was Joey. Penny coins were referred to as 'coppers'
Less than a penny(d)Pennies were broken down into other coins:
Farthing Half Penny Other names for coinsA shilling was often called a 'bob'. Five shilling piece or crown was sometimes called a dollar sixpence (silver) - often called a 'tanner' A penny was often called a 'copper' after the metal it was minted from. Old money conversions to money used today
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© Copyright Mandy Barrow 2013
Mandy is the creator of the Woodlands Resources section of the Woodlands Junior website.
The two websites projectbritain.com and primaryhomeworkhelp.co.uk are the new homes for the Woodlands Resources.
Mandy left Woodlands in 2003 to work in Kent schools as an ICT Consulatant.
She now teaches computers at The Granville School and St. John's Primary School in Sevenoaks Kent.
List of British banknotes and coins, with commonly used terms.
Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pence (written as 12d) in a shilling (written as 1s or 1/-) and 20 shillings in a pound, written as £1 (occasionally 'L' was used instead of the pound sign, £). There were therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2 14/5.
The value of some coins fluctuated, particularly in the reigns of James I and Charles I. The value of a guinea fluctuated between 20 and 30 shillings before being fixed at 21 shillings in December 1717. These are denominations of British, or earlier English, coins – Scottish coins had different values.
Coin | Pre-decimalisation value | Post-decimalisation value | Dates of use | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
Mite[1] | 1⁄24d; see notes | £0.0001736; see notes | Tudor dates, back to Anglo-Saxon England, at least. | In Tudor times, mites weren't minted but were used in accounting; one mite was one twenty-fourth of a penny or one sixth of a farthing.[2] In older times, a mite could be worth half a farthing or 1⁄8d;[3] or about one-third of a farthing or about 1⁄12d[4] |
Quarter farthing | 1⁄16d | £0.00026 | 1839–1868. | see note 1 below |
Third farthing | 1⁄12d | £0.0003472 | 1827–1913. | see note 1 below |
Half farthing | 1⁄8d | £0.00052083 | 1828–1868. | see note 1 below |
Farthing | 1⁄4d | £0.00104167 | c. 1200–1960. | The word 'farthing' means 'fourth part' (of a penny). |
Halfpenny | 1⁄2d | £0.0021 | 1272–1969. | Often called a 'ha'penny' (pronounced HAY-p'nee), plural halfpennies ('ha'pennies') for the coins, halfpence ('ha'pence') for the monetary amount. |
Three farthings | 3⁄4d | £0.0031 | 1561–1582. | |
One penny | 1d | £0.0042 | 757–1970 (and thereafter only for Maundy). | Commonly called a 'copper'; plural 'pennies' for the coins, 'pence' for the monetary amount |
Three halfpence | 11⁄2d | £0.0063 | 1561–1582, 1834–1870. | see note 1 below. Pronounced as 'three-ha'pence' |
Half groat | 2d | £0.0083 | 1351–1662. | |
Twopence | 2d | £0.0083 | silver 1668–current (for Maundy); copper 1797–1798. | Pronounced 'tuppence'. |
Threepence | 3d | £0.0125 | silver 1547–1945 (and thereafter only for Maundy), nickel-brass 1937–1970. | Sometimes called 'thripp'nce', 'thrupp'nce', 'threpp'nce' or 'thripp'ny bit', 'thrupp'ny bit'. Referred to as a 'joey' after the groat was no longer in circulation, as featured in George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying. |
Groat | 4d | £0.0167 | silver 1279–1662, 1836–1862 (and thereafter only for Maundy). | Referred to as a 'joey' after Joseph Hume, the economist and Member of Parliament until it stopped being issued in 1885.[5] |
Sixpence | 6d | £0.025 | 1547–1970; circulated from 1971 to 1980 with a value of two and a half decimal pence. | Also called 'tanner', sometimes 'tilbury',[6] or 'joey' after the groat was no longer in circulation.[citation needed] |
Shilling | 1/- | £0.05 | 1502–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1990 with a value of five decimal pence. | Also called a 'bob', in singular or plural. |
Quarter florin or helm | 1/6 | £0.075 | 1344 | Gold coin demonetized within one year. see note 2 below |
Gold penny | 1/8 to 2/- | £0.0833 to £0.1 | 1257–1265. | Gold. Undervalued for its metal content and extremely rare. |
Quarter noble | 1/8 | £0.0833 | 1344–1470. | |
Quarter angel | 2/- | £0.1 | 1547–1600. | Gold. |
Florin or two shillings | 2/- | £0.1 | 1848–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1993 with a value of ten decimal pence. | see note 2 below |
Half crown | 2/6 | £0.125 | 1526–1969. | Sometimes known as 'half a dollar' (see Crown below). |
Half florin or leopard | 3/- | £0.15 | 1344 | Gold; extremely rare. see note 2 below |
Half noble | 3/4 to 4/2 | £0.1667 to £0.2083 | minted 1346–1438. | increased in value in 1464 |
Half angel | 3/4, later 5/6 | £0.1667, later £0.275 | 1470–1619. | |
Double florin | 4/- | £0.2 | 1887–1890. | Silver. see note 2 below |
Crown of the rose | 4/6 | £0.225 | 1526–1551. | |
Crown | 5/- | £0.25 | 1526–1965. | Sometimes known as 'a dollar' – from the 1940s when the exchange rate was four USD to the GBP. |
Quarter guinea | 5/3 | £0.2625 | 1718, 1762. | |
Florin or double leopard | 6/- | £0.3 | 1344. | Gold; demonetized within one year. see note 2 below |
Noble | 6/8, later 8/4 | £0.3333, later £0.4167 | 1344–1464. | Increased in value in 1464. |
Angel | 6/8 | £0.3333 | 1461–1643. | |
Half mark | 6/8 | £0.333 | [medieval period] | A unit of account, not a coin. Convenient as it was exactly one-third of a pound. |
Third guinea | 7/- | £0.35 | 1797–1813. | |
Rose noble or ryal | 10/-, later 15/- | £0.5, later £0.75 | 1464–1470, 1487, 1553–1603. | Increased in value from 1553. |
Half sovereign | 10/- | £0.5 | 1544–1553; 1603–1604; 1817–1937 | A bullion coin since 1980. |
Halfpound | 10/- | £0.5 | 1559–1602; 1642–1644 | |
Double crown | 10/- | £0.5 | 1604–1619; 1625–1662. | |
Half laurel | 10/- | £0.5 | 1619–1625. | |
Half unite | 10/- | £0.5 | 1642–1643. | |
Half guinea | 10/6 | £0.525 | 1669–1813. | |
Mark | 13/4 | £0.667 | [medieval period] | A unit of account not a coin, but widely used. |
Spur ryal | 15/- | £0.75 | 1604–1625. | |
Sovereign | 20/- | £1 | 1489–1604; 1817–1937 | A bullion coin since 1957. |
Unite | 20/- | £1 | 1604–1619; 1649–1662. | |
Laurel | 20/- | £1 | 1619–1644? | |
Carolus | 20/-, later 23/- | £1, later £1.15 | reign of Charles I. | |
Broad | 20/- | £1 | 1656. | |
Guinea | 21/- | £1.05 | 1663–1799, 1813. | |
Rose Ryal | 30/- | £1.50 | 1604–1625. | |
Two pounds | 40/- | £2 | 1823–1937. | Gold; 'double sovereign'. |
Two guineas or double guinea | originally 40/-, later 42/- | originally £2, later £2.10 | 1664–1753. | Originally known as a 'forty-shilling piece'; value changed to forty-two shillings after the Proclamation of 1717 finally settled the value of a guinea. |
Fifty shillings | 50/- | £2.50 | 1656. | |
Triple unite | 60/- | £3 | 1642–1644. | |
Five pounds | 100/- | £5 | 1826–1990. | Gold. |
Five guineas | originally 100/-, later 105/- | originally £5, later £5.25 | 1668–1753. | Originally known and valued as five pounds, but became five guineas when the guinea was standardised at one pound and one shilling in 1717. |
Notes:
1915 half sovereign
1560–61 halfpound, one of the first English milled coins
1740 Two guineas
Since decimalisation on 'Decimal Day' in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. Originally the term 'new pence' was used; the word 'new' was dropped from the coinage in 1983. The old shilling equated to five (new) pence, and, for example, £2 10s 6d became £2.521⁄2. The symbol for the (old) penny, 'd', was replaced by 'p' (or initially sometimes 'np', for new pence). Thus 72 pence can be written as £0.72 or 72p; both were commonly read as 'seventy-two pee'.
Name | Value | Notes |
---|---|---|
Half penny | 1⁄2p | Sometimes written 'ha'penny' (pronounced HAY-p'nee), but normally called a 'half-pee'; demonetised and withdrawn from circulation in December 1984. |
One penny | 1p | |
Two pence | 2p | |
Five pence | 5p | A direct replacement for the shilling. The coin was reduced in size in 1990. |
Six pence | 6p | Minted uniquely in 2016 as a commemorative coin.[7] |
Ten pence | 10p | A replacement for the florin (two shillings). The coin was reduced in size in 1992. |
Twenty pence | 20p | Introduced in 1982. |
Twenty-five pence | 25p | A commemorative coin issued between 1972 and 1981 as a post-decimal continuation of the old crown. From 1990 it was replaced in the commemorative role by the £5 coin. |
Fifty pence | 50p | Introduced in 1969, just prior to decimalisation, to replace the ten shilling note ('ten bob note'). It was initially sometimes called a 'ten bob bit'. The coin was reduced in size in 1997. |
One pound | £1 | Introduced in 1983 to replace the one pound note. |
Sovereign | £1 | Gold bullion coins, available in four other sizes too: quarter sovereign (25p), half sovereign (£1⁄2), double sovereign (£2) and quintuple sovereign (£5). |
Two pounds | £2 | Issued as a commemorative coin from 1986 and in general circulation from 1998 (dated from 1997). |
Britannia | various values | Gold and silver bullion coins, either one — or multiples, or fractions of — troy ounces. |
Five pounds | £5 | Introduced in 1990 as a commemorative coin, as a continuation of the old crown, replacing the commemorative role of the twenty-five pence coin. |
The Valiant | £10 | Bullion / collectors' coins issued in 2018 and 2019; 10 troy ounces of silver.[8] |
Twenty pounds | £20 | Introduced in 2013 as a commemorative coin.[9] |
Fifty pounds | £50 | Introduced in 2015 as a commemorative coin.[10] |
One hundred pounds | £100 | Introduced in 2015 as a commemorative coin.[11] |
Note: The description of banknotes given here relates to notes issued by the Bank of England. Three banks in Scotland and four banks in Northern Ireland also issue notes, in some or all of the denominations: £1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100.
Name | Value | Circulation | Notes |
---|---|---|---|
Five shilling note | 5/-(£0.25) | N non-circulating | Originally issued by the treasury in 1914-1928. Not replaced by Bank of England notes. |
Ten shilling note | 10/-(£0.5) | N non-circulating | Originally issued by the treasury in 1914. Replaced by Bank of England notes from 1928. Commonly known as 'ten bob note' or 'half a quid'. 1914–1970. |
Post-decimalisation British Notes:
Bank of England notes are periodically redesigned and reissued, with the old notes being withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. Each redesign is allocated a 'series'. Currently the £50 note is 'series F' issue whilst the £5, £10 and £20 notes are 'series G' issue. Series G is the latest round of redesign, which commenced in September 2016 with the polymer £5 note, September 2017 with the polymer £10 note, and February 2020 with the polymer £20 note.[14]
english coin called a mite.
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