British Currency

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:

pounds (£ or l )
shillings (s. or /-) and
pennies (d.)
Convert old money to todays

'I was born in 1943. The money used in our village was:- farthing, Ha'penny, penny, thrupenny bit, sixpence, shilling, two bob bit, half crown, ten bob note, pound note and five pound note. The crown coin was limited. I don't think there was a five pound coin. I believe the guinea was, still is, just a value and not a coin or note.'
John Curd

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
2 halfpence = 1 penny (1d)
3 pence = 1 thruppence (3d)
6 pence = 1 sixpence (a 'tanner') (6d)
12 pence = 1 shilling (a bob) (1s)
2 shillings = 1 florin ( a 'two bob bit') (2s)
2 shillings and 6 pence = 1 half crown (2s 6d)
5 shillings = 1 Crown (5s)

Did you know

The pre-decimalisation British system of coinage was introduced by King Henry II. It was based on the troy system of weighing precious metals. The penny was literally one pennyweight of silver. A pound sterling thus weighed 240 pennyweights, or a pound of sterling silver.

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.

£ orl in some documents		= pound	s. or /-	= shilling
d	= penny (for 'denarius', a Roman silver coin)
g orgn	= guinea

Can you work out how much
£4-8-4d (£4/8/4d) was?

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.

'A Guinea coin was available as legal tender and they were minted from gold. Therefore ceased to be used as such as they became collectors items, for the gold presumably. I was given 4 gold guinea coins when I was 13.'
Manuel, Wilmslow, Cheshire

'I remember the £5.0.0 note. It was larger than other notes, stiff and very white with black lettering. It had to be folded to fit into a wallet and I never possessed more than one at a time and then infrequently. It did not appear to last very long because, I have been given to understand, it was easily forged.'
Edwin J Cato

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:

a florin (a two shillings or 2 bob or 2 bob bit)	10 x 2/- = £1
a half-crown ( 2/6d) (2 shillings and 6 pence)	8 x 2/6d = £1
a crown (5/-) (five shillings or 5 bob)	4 x 5/- = £1
a half-sovereign (ten shillings or 10 bob)	2 x 10/- = £1
a half-guinea (10/6d) (10 shillings and 6 pence)	2 x 10/6d = £1/1/-

HalfCrown

A 'crown' was originally a gold coin issued during the reign of Henry VIII in 1544. It became a silver coin in 1551under his son Edward VI.

Less than a Shilling (s. or /- )

Other coins of a value less than 1/- were	1/- (shilling) =
a half-groat (2d)	6 x 2d = 1/-
a threepenny bit(threepence) (3d) made of silver	4 x 3d. = 1/-
a groat (4d) There were four pennies in a groat	3 x 4d = 1/-
a sixpence (silver) often called a 'tanner'	2 x 6d = 1/-
a penny (copper) often called a 'copper'	12 x 1d = 1/-

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'

We also used the words couple of coppers, tanner, bob, half-a-dollar, dollar, quid to mean the value or amount of the money needed, e.g. can you lend me ten bob please? It didn't really matter if in was made up of shillings and pennies, or any other coins.
John Curd

Less than a penny(d)

Pennies were broken down into other coins:

a farthing	= ¼ of a penny (1/4d)
a halfpenny (pronounced 'hay-p'ny')	= ½ of a penny (1/2d)

Farthing
Diameter : 20.0 mm ; Weight : 2.8 grams

Half Penny
Diameter : 25.0 mm ; Weight : 5.7 grams

Other names for coins

A shilling was often called a 'bob'.
'It cost me four 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

Sixpence - 2½p
One shilling (or 'bob') - 5p
Half a crown (2 shillings and sixpence) - 12½p
One guinea - £1.05

Answer

£4-8-4d (£4/8/4d) is

4 pounds, eight shillings and fourpence

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List of British banknotes and coins, with commonly used terms.

Coins[edit]

Pre-decimal[edit]

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.

Visualisation of some British currency terms before decimalisation

Notes:

Denomination issued for use in the colonies, usually in Ceylon, Malta, and the West Indies, but normally counted as part of the British coinage.
The medieval florin, half florin, and quarter florin were gold coins intended to circulate in Europe as well as in England and were valued at much more than the Victorian and later florin and double florin. The medieval florins were withdrawn within a year because they contained insufficient gold for their face value and thus were unacceptable to merchants.

1915 half sovereign
1560–61 halfpound, one of the first English milled coins
1740 Two guineas

Decimal[edit]

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'.

Post-decimalisation British coins.
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]

Banknotes[edit]

Main articles: Banknotes of the pound sterling and Bank of England note issues.

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.

British bank notes:

Pre-decimalisation British Notes:
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:

Name

Value

Circulation

Notes

£1 note

£1

N non-circulating

Withdrawn in 1988, it is still issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Ireland and still used in some of the Channel Islands.^{[citation needed]}

£5 note

£5

in circulation

The original 'large white fiver' five pound note was known as 'five jacks' and replaced in 1957 by the blue £5 note. Now also known as a 'fiver'.

£10 note

£10

in circulation

Also known as a 'tenner', or an 'ayrton', from Ayrton Senna

£20 note

£20

in circulation

Also known as a 'score'.

£50 note

£50

in circulation

Also known as a 'bullseye'.

£100 note

£100

N not in circulation

Issued by Scottish and Northern-Irish banks only.

£1,000,000 note

£1,000,000

N non-circulating

Also known as a 'Giant'. Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.^[12] Also issued in 1948 as a temporary measure during the postwar reconstruction in the Marshall Plan.^[13]

£10,000,000 note

£10,000,000

N non-circulating

Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.

£100,000,000 note

£100,000,000

N non-circulating

Also known as a 'Titan'. Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.^[12]

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]

References[edit]

^Mentioned in the King James Bible: Mark 12:41–4, but referring to a European currency. http://www.medievalcoinage.com/denominations/index.htm
^Lara E. Eakins. 'Coinage'. tudorhistory.org. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
^Francis Sellon White (1827). A History of Inventions and Discoveries: Alphabetically Arranged. C. and J. Rivington, London. p. 218. Retrieved 22 June 2014. english coin called a mite.
^Samuel Maunder (1841). The Scientific and Literary Treasury; A New and Popular Encyclopedia of the Belles Lettres. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
^'Slang Terms for Money'.
^'Money Slang'.
^https://www.royalmint.com/our-coins/ranges/historic-coins/historic-coins/the-windsor-silver-sixpence-set/.Missing or empty |title= (help)
^The Valiant
^'£20 Coins'. The Royal Mint.
^'£50 Coins'. The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
^'Buckingham Palace 2015 UK £100 Fine Silver Coin'. Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
^ ^a^b'Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes - The Role of Backing Assets'. Bank of England. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
^'One in a Million'. Time. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
^http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current/index.htm Current banknotes of the Bank of England

External links[edit]

Dollar (USD) To British Pound (GBP) Currency Converter

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