Toltec

In 1971 before Britain could join the EU, the first change Britain was forced to make by those fiendish Eurocrats was to change the currency. The British Currency system had been around since the 12th century and had remained little changed since then. Few people appreciate when the change was made a valued piece of living medieval history was lost.


British Money” British Currency 12th century to 1971 RIP

A Pound was divided into twenty Shillings, a Shilling into twelve Pennies and a Penny into four farthings. A Tanner was six pennies and a Florin two Shillings. Five Shillings made a Crown and two hundred and fifty two Pennies a Guinea. There were four Pennies in a Groat and a Half Crown was 2 Shillings and a Tanner. Half a Guinea was ten Shillings and a Tanner. A Bob is another name for a Shilling, there were twenty four Happeny’s in a Bob. Twenty four Thruppence, also known as a Joey, made a Florin and two Joey made a Sixpence. So a Pound, a Florin and a Penny was also a Guinea, a Bob and four Farthings.


Apparantly before 1972 watching tourists try and buy something was more funny a sit com. Don't you just wish the old days were back and we returned to this system?

Davidius

Apparently the British public resisted decimalisation for so long because thay thought it was to complicated!

tjadams

I had to write that down.
So a Florin was:
-two shillings or
-twenty-four Thruppence ?

tjadams

I"ll just overpay for everything if I ever go over there. I'll be the stereotypical Texan with the ten gallon hat, cowboy boots, spurs and a see-gar.

Toltec

both, I think.


Typical American tourist.

Earl_of_Rochester

I always liked the half penny (ha'pney), they had a picture of a frigate I think, bit before my time though.



EoR

jungleplanewreck

I've never experienced it, but yes - I wish it returned.

Naomasa298

I've never experienced it and I don't...

I still see people behind the counter in shops today who can't handle grams and kilos, and I'm talking about people born after 1990!

Linschoten

£. s. d.

When Libra, Solidus, Denarius
Ruled our metallic currency,
They satisfied and steadied us:-
Pounds, shillings, pence, all honest British money.
True, the gold libra weiged twelve ounces once.
The solidus, gold equally,
Worth twenty-five denarii -
Money that that did not burn,
Money which in its turn...

'What happened to the solidus?', you ask me.
Reduced at last to an unsilvered shilling
Of twelve denarii - 'pence', or bronze money -
It faded pitifully into the blue....
As for the libra, having done with gold,
It languished among paper promises
Based on hopes, lies and shrewd financial guesses.
But mourn for the French sou, as is most proper,
Three hundred ounces, once, all of pure copper.

(Robert Graves)

It makes one realize the incredible antiquity of this system; when i was a child, chocolate bars would labelled 6d or 4d - meaning denarii, though I didn't know it at the time! The s was never used in that way, something would marked as 2/6, say, or 2/- if there were no pence involved, so that /- became in effect a sort of sign for shillings. At least we still use the £ sign for pounds, though hardly anyone realizes that this means L for libra.

Mohammed the Persian

I lost tract of everything after the " 5 Shillings make a Crown "