List of British bank notes and coins

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List of British bank notes and coins, with commonly used terms.

[edit] Pre-Decimal

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 240 pence in a pound.

2 pounds 14 shillings and five pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or 2/14/5.

1948 Farthing

• The Quarter farthing was a British coin, produced for circulation in Ceylon in the 1800s, worth ¹⁄₁₆ penny (¹⁄₁₆d or 0.0625d)
• Third farthing was worth ¹⁄₁₂ of a penny. (¹⁄₁₂d)
• The Half farthing was worth ¹⁄₈ of a penny. (¹⁄₈d)
• Farthing, meaning "fourth part" of a penny. (¹⁄₄d)
• Halfpenny, called an Ha'penny (pronounced HAY-p'nee) (¹⁄₂d)
• Three farthings (³⁄₄d)
• One Penny (1d)
• The three halfpence coin was worth 1+¹⁄₂ pennies. (1+¹⁄₂d)
• Silver twopenny (twopence or tuppence) coins were called "half-groats" (2d)
• Threepence (3d), sometimes called "thripp'nce", "thrupp'nce", "threpp'nce" or "thripp'ny bit", "thrupp'ny bit", was originally silver changing to brass in the mid 1900s.

1953 Threepence

• The Groat was worth four pence (4d) and sometimes referred to as a "joey" after Joseph Hume, the economist and Member of Parliament^[1]
• Sixpence or "Tanner", sometimes called "tilbury",^[2] was also called a "joey" after the Groat was no longer in circulation. (6d)
• A Shilling or "bob" was valued at 12 pence. (1/-)
• The Quarter Florin or "Helm" was produced in 1344, with a value of one shilling and sixpence. (1/6)
• Twenty pence (1/8)
• Two Shillings (2/-) or Florin. (The Florin in the Middle Ages had a value of six shillings and was made of gold).
• Half Crown (2s 6d) was sometimes known as half a dollar.
• The gold Half Florin was worth three shillings. (3/-)
• The Double Florin, made of silver, was worth four shillings. (4/-)
• The Crown was worth five shillings. (5/-)
• The quarter guinea was worth five shillings and three pence. (5/3)
• The gold Florin was worth six shillings. (6/-)
• Noble valued at six shillings and eight pence (6/8) i.e. eighty pence or one-third of a pound. Its value was raised to 8/4 in 1464 and the "Angel" introduced worth £¹⁄₃ (6/8).
• Third guinea (7/-)

1915 Half Sovereign

• Ten shilling note was issued from World War I until 1969,^[3] called a "Ten bob note" or "Half a nicker" (10/-)
• Half Sovereign (10/-)
• Double Crown (10/-)
• Halfpound (10/-)
• Rose Noble, or Ryal was worth ten shillings when issued by Kings Edward IV and Henry VII, and fifteen shillings when issued by Queens Mary and Elizabeth I.
• The Half laurel had a value of ten shillings (half a pound, or laurel).
• Half guinea (10/6)
• The Spur Ryal was worth fifteen shillings (15/-)
• A Pound or "quid" was worth 20 shillings or 240 pence. (£1)
• The Sovereign, Broad, Unite and Laurel were gold coins with a value of one pound.
• Guinea worth one pound and one shilling.
• Two pounds (£2)
• The Carolus was a gold coin struck in the reign of Charles I of England originally valued at 20 shillings, but later 23.

1740 Two Guineas

• The Two Guineas coin had a nominal value of forty shillings and was known as a "forty-shilling piece", later called a "double-guinea" or "two guinea piece", worth forty-two shillings after the Proclamation of 1717 finally settled the value of a guinea.
• Rose Ryal (30/-) really a "two ryal"
• A Five Guineas coin was produced between 1668 and 1753 (known and valued as five pounds but became five guineas when the guinea was standardised at one pound and one shilling in 1717).
• There was a Fifty Shillings coin minted in 1656. (50/-)
• Triple Unite (60/-)
• The Five pounds coin has been issued since 1826 (£5), the original "large white fiver", five pound note was known as "five jacks" and replaced in 1957 by the blue £5 note
• Five Guineas, originally 100 shillings (100/-), then 105 (105/-)

[edit] Maundy money

Maundy money is a special British coinage given to deserving poor people in a religious ceremony performed by Anglicans on Maundy Thursday, the Thursday before Easter.

• One Penny
• Two Pence
• Three Pence
• Four Pence

[edit] Decimal

After decimalisation, on "Decimal Day" in 1971, the pound remained, with the shilling equating to five 'new pence' and there are one hundred pence in the pound.

£2 14s 5d became £2.72 and the 'd' was no longer used, replaced with 'np' (for new pence) originally and then just 'p'. 72 pence could be written as £0.72 or 72p (or 72np).

Obverse and reverse of common coins in current circulation, £2, £1, 50p, 20p, 10p, 5p, 2p and 1p

• Half Penny, sometimes called Ha'penny (pronounced HAY-p'nee), demonetised and withdrawn from circulation in December 1984. (¹⁄₂p)
• One penny (1p)
• Two pence (2p)
• The Five pence (5p) was a direct replacement for the shilling, in 1990 it was reduced in size
• Ten pence (10p) replaced the florin, the reduction in size happened in 1992
• Twenty pence (20p) was introduced in 1982
• The Twenty-five pence coin was issued, between 1972 and 1981 to simulate the pre-decimal Crown coin but the new "Crown" was then re-issued with a value of £5
• A Fifty pence coin (50p) was introduced in 1969, prior to decimalisation, replacing the ten shilling note sometimes initially called a "ten bob bit" (as opposed to the old "ten bob note"), and then reduced in size in 1997
• £1 note also known as a "quid", withdrawn in 1984
• One Pound (£1), introduced in 1983 replacing the one pound note
• The Two pound coin (£2) was issued as a commemorative coin from 1986 until it was used in full circulation from 1997
• The Crown (£5) was introduced in 1990 as a commemorative coin.
• £5 note
• £10 note
• £20 note
• £50 note
• The Britannia coin is British bullion coin that has been issued since 1987, with a value of one hundred pounds (£100)
• Higher value notes, up to £1,000 were withdrawn to try and prevent large value forgery.

Note: The description of banknotes given to this point relates to notes issued by the Bank of England. Three banks in each of Scotland and Northern Ireland also issue notes, in some or all of the denominations: £1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100. See Banknotes of the pound sterling for full details.

[edit] General Terms

• A pound (£1) can be referred to as a "quid", a "nicker" or a "nugget".
• Lady Godiva is rhyming slang for a fiver (£5)
• "Score" for £20
• "Pony" equals £25
• A "ton" or "century" refers to £100
• "Monkey" is slang for £500
• A "Grand" can mean £1,000
• A "Oner" (one-er) has referred to various amounts from one shilling to a pound to now meaning £100 or £1,000
• "Shrapnel" refers to an inconvenient pocket full of loose change

[edit] See also

• British banknotes
• The Royal Mint

[edit] References

1. ^ Fun-With-words.com
2. ^ Cockney Rhyming Slang dictionary
3. ^ BBC.co.uk "On this day" 14 Oct 1969