View source for £sd

{{Short description|Pre-decimal currencies}}
{{distinguish|LSD}}
{{Use dmy dates |date=January 2024}}
{{Use British English |date=January 2024}}
[[file:Guildhall Museum Collection- Drusilla Dunford Money Table Sampler 3304.JPG|thumb|A [[Sampler (needlework)|sampler]] in the [[Rochester Guildhall|Guildhall Museum]] of [[Rochester, Medway|Rochester]] illustrates the conversion between pence and shillings and shillings and pounds.]]
[[file:Cash register (8058279685) (2).jpg|thumb|Old till in Ireland, with "shortcut" keys in various £sd denominations (lower numbers) and their "new pence" equivalent (upper numbers)]]
[[file:TOY (FindID 748865).jpg|thumb|[[Play money|Toy coin]], which teaches children the value of a shilling]]

'''£sd''' (occasionally written '''Lsd'''{{efn|The modern £ symbol is a stylised form of the letter {{char|L}} as written in [[blackletter]] type{{snd}} like <math>\mathfrak{L}</math>{{snd}} with a stroke to indicate that it is an abbreviation of the  word {{lang|la|Libra}} (see [[Pound sign#Origin]] for details). }}) is the popular name for the pre-decimal [[currencies]] once common throughout Europe. The abbreviation originates from the [[Ancient Roman units of measurement|Latin currency denominations]] {{lang|la|[[libra (weight)|librae]]}}, {{lang|la|[[solidus (coin)|solidi]]}}, and {{lang|la|[[denarius|denarii]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |isbn=0-7134-0731-X |page=10 |title=English Coinage, 600-1900 |last1=Sutherland |first1=Carol Humphrey Vivian |date=6 December 1973 |publisher=B. T. Batsford }}</ref> Under this system, there were 12 ''denarii'' in a ''solidus'' and 20 ''solidi'' (or 240 ''denarii'') in a ''libra''. In the countries of the (former) [[British Empire]], these were called '''''[[pound sterling|pounds]]'', ''[[shilling]]s'', and ''[[pence]]''''' (''pence'' being the plural of ''penny''), with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound. 

Although the names originated from popular coins in the classical [[Roman Empire]], their definitions and the ratios between them were introduced and imposed across Western Europe by Emperor [[Charlemagne]]. King [[Offa of Mercia]] adopted the Frankish silver standard of {{lang|la|librae}}, {{lang|la|solidi}}, and {{lang|la|denarii}} into Britain in the late 8th century.<ref>{{cite book |last=Hodgkin |first=Thomas |title=The History of England from the Earliest Times to the Norman Conquest |year=1906 |publisher=Longmans, Green, and Co. |location=London, New York and Bombay |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tAUPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA234 |page=234 |access-date=13 October 2016 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081222/https://books.google.com/books?id=tAUPAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA234 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The £sd system was the standard across much of the European continent for over a thousand years, until the [[decimalisation]]s of the 18th and 19th centuries. The United Kingdom remained one of the few countries retaining it into the 20th century, resulting in the system becoming particularly associated with Britain. For much of the 20th century, £sd remained the monetary notation of most countries in the (former) British Empire{{snd}} with the exceptions of [[Canadian dollar|Canada]] and [[Indian rupee|India]]{{snd}} until the 1960s and 1970s, with [[Nigeria]] being the last to abandon it in the form of the [[Nigerian pound]] on 1 January 1973.

Historically, similar systems based on [[Roman coinage]] were used elsewhere; e.g., the division of the {{lang|fr|[[livre tournois]]}} in [[France]] and other [[pre-decimal currency|pre-decimal currencies]] such as [[Spain]], which had 20 {{lang|es|[[maravedí]]s}} to 1 {{lang|es|[[Spanish real|real]]}} and 20 {{lang|es|reales}} to 1 {{lang|es|duro}} or 5 {{lang|es|[[Spanish peseta|pesetas]]}}.<ref>{{cite book |last=Walkingame |first=Francis |title=The Tutor's Assistant |page=96 |year=1874 }}</ref>

== Origins ==
{{main|Carolingian monetary system}}

The classical [[Roman Empire]] originally used a decimal currency system based on the "[[As (Roman coin)|as]]" whereby 1 ''denarius'' = 10 ''asses''. The silver [[denarius]] was the common circulation coin, but accounting was in [[Sestertius|sestercii]]. Later Roman Emperors undertook multiple coinage reforms, redefining weights and coins' relative values and introducing new coins and new accounting systems for them. Since most reforms were not even completed before the next one began, the late Roman Empire had a veritable mess of multiple overlapping systems of weights and currencies.

[[file:Denier Charlemagne1.jpg|thumb|Carolingian [[denarius]]]]
Around the 780s, the Frankish emperor [[Charlemagne]] cut through the mess by creating a new uniform system. He defined the "libra" as a new measure of weight equivalent to around {{cvt|408|g|oz}}<ref>{{cite book |editor-last=Naismith |editor-first=Rory |year=2018 |title=Money and Coinage in the Middle Ages |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/24386/1005729.pdf |publisher=[[Brill Publishers]] |page=81 |isbn=978-90-04-38309-8}}</ref>{{efn|There is uncertainty about the value of the original Carolingian pound. Estimates as high as {{cvt|489.6|g|oz}} can be seen.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/MONEYLEC.htm |title=Money and Coinage in Late Medieval and Early Modern Europe |last=Munro |first=John |date= |website=[[University of Toronto]] |access-date=2024-09-20}}</ref>}} (substantially larger than the old [[Roman pound]] of {{cvt|328.9|g|oz}}), and ordered 240 silver units known as ''denarii'' to be struck from the new [[Carolingian pound]] of pure silver, each ''denarius'' containing {{convert|22.5|gr}} of silver. To help accounting, Charlemagne also decreed that the pound was divisible into 20 ''solidi'', each of 12 ''denarii''. Thus began the [[Carolingian monetary system]] (1''l''. = 20''s''. = 240''d''.).

The new coinage and accounting system was imposed uniformly across the vast [[Carolingian Empire]] and also infiltrated countries on its periphery. In the late 8th century, King [[Offa of Mercia]] imported the system into Britain to facilitate transactions (notably "[[Peter's pence]]") with the [[Roman Catholic]] Church (which used the Carolingian coinage system). But it was not the sole system in Britain – the £sd system would have to compete for a while with the [[Viking]] "[[mark (currency)|mark]]" accounting system, introduced into [[Danelaw]] regions. Although £sd ultimately prevailed in Britain, the "mark of account" system lingered on in [[North Sea]] trade and areas of [[Hanseatic League|Hanseatic]] influence through much of the Middle Ages.

Charlemagne's new monetary system prevailed across much of Western Europe including France (where the units were known as the ''livre'', ''sous'' and ''denier''), Italy (''lira'', ''soldo'' and ''denaro''), the Holy Roman Empire (''pfund'', ''schilling'' and ''pfennig'') and in England (''pound'', ''shilling'' and ''penny''). The English name ''pound'' is a [[Germanic languages|Germanic]] adaptation of the Latin phrase {{lang|la|libra pondo}} 'a pound weight'.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=Oxford English Dictionary |title=pound}}</ref> On the Iberian peninsula, the Kingdom of Aragon adopted the Carolingian monetary system (Catalan: ''lliura'', ''sou'' and ''diners''), but those of Portugal and Castile (and subsequently Spain) retained the currency system inherited from [[al-Andalus]].

During the early Middle Ages, only the [[French denier|denarius (denier)]] was issued as an actual coin; the libra and solidus were merely [[units of account]]. But over time, Europe's silver resources were gradually exhausted and the coins became repeatedly [[debasement|debased]] by mediaeval monarchs, prompting the minting of larger coins from the 13th century. It also led to specification of currencies by mint of origin in contracts and accounting (e.g. a ''denier parisis'', of the Paris mint, contained more actual silver than the very debased ''[[denier tournois]]'' of Tours).

To facilitate larger transactions, gold coins began to be minted in western Europe around the same time. The [[French franc]], introduced in 1360, was the first coin anywhere to represent exactly £1 and the gold "[[Sovereign (English coin)|sovereign]]", first minted in 1489, was the first English £1 coin.

Although the £sd system remained intact in ledger accounting, the variety of new coins of various multiples and qualities led to common expression of quantities in terms of number of coins (guineas, crowns, farthings, etc.) But they would all have to be converted into formal £sd units in accounts.

== Decimalisation ==
{{Original research|section|date=August 2019}}
[[file:British predecimal currency.svg|thumb|Conversion of some British pre-decimalisation currencies, and the decimal equivalent]]

The £sd system continued in much of Western Europe for nearly a thousand years, until the "[[decimalisation]]s" of the 18th and 19th centuries. Britain considered following the continental example. A parliamentary select committee was set up in 1821 to inquire into decimalisation, but ended up recommending retaining the £sd system. However, pressure groups were formed inside Britain advocating the adoption of decimalisation of the currency, and Parliament returned to the matter in the 1850s. Various decimalisation schemes were considered – the Pound-and-Mil scheme, the Farthing scheme, the Half-penny scheme, the Alb scheme, etc. – but all were determined to have deficiencies, and transition would be too difficult and expensive. The £sd system was maintained in Britain until 1971.

As countries of the [[British Empire]] became independent, some abandoned the £sd system quickly, while others retained it almost as long as the UK itself. The United States of America was among the first to drop the £sd system and adopt a decimal currency in 1792, 10 years after independence from the British Empire, but retains many other aspects of the [[United States customary units|customary units]] for length and weight. Australia, on the other hand, only changed to using a decimal currency on 14 February 1966. New Zealand did so on 10 July 1967. Still others, notably [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[decimalisation|decimalised]] only when the UK did. The UK abandoned the old penny on [[Decimal Day]], 15 February 1971, when one [[pound sterling]] became divided into 100 [[Penny (British decimal coin)|new pence]]. This was a change from the system used in the earlier wave of decimalisations in Australia, [[New Zealand]], [[Rhodesia]] and [[South Africa]], in which the pound was replaced with a new major currency called either the "dollar" or the "rand". The British [[Shilling (United Kingdom)|shilling]] was replaced by a [[Five pence (British coin)|5 new pence coin]] worth one-twentieth of a pound. In Europe, decimalisation of currency (as well as other weights and measures) began in [[French Revolution#First Republic (1792–1795)|Revolutionary France]] with the law of 1795 ("Loi du 18 germinal an III", 7 April 1795), replacing the £sd accounting system of the [[Ancien régime]] with a system of 1 franc = 10 decimes = 100 centimes. Decimalisation was carried by French armies to neighboring European countries during the [[Napoleonic wars]]. By the mid-19th century, most of continental Europe had decimalised, leaving the [[United Kingdom]] as the only major country to continue to maintain the £sd system.

All countries and territories that formerly used the £sd system have now [[Decimalisation|decimalised]] their currency, with most decimalisations occurring after the [[Second World War]]. [[Malta]] decimalised its currency in 1972, while [[Nigeria]] decimalised in 1973. The British [[pound sterling]] and [[Irish pound]] were among the last to be decimalised, on [[Decimal Day|15 February 1971]].

In places where £sd was used, there were several approaches to decimalisation:

* The pound remained the base unit (in Malta, using the Maltese name "lira"), but was subdivided into new fractional units of {{frac|1|100}} of a pound. The new fractional unit (called the "new penny" in the UK and [[Ireland]] and the "cent" in [[Malta]]) was worth 2.4 old pence. Malta also created a fractional unit worth {{frac|1|1000}} of a pound, called the "[[mil (currency)|mil]]", worth slightly less than a farthing (0.24 old pence).
* A new base unit (often called the "dollar") was created equal to ten shillings (half a pound), and subdivided into 100 fractional units, with one fractional unit (usually called the "cent") equal to {{frac|1|10}} of a shilling or 1.2 old pence. This was the approach adopted in [[South Africa]] (as the Rand), [[Australia]], [[New Zealand]], [[Jamaica]], [[Fiji]] and many other countries.
* A new base unit called the "dollar" was created at parity with the [[United States dollar]]. This was done in [[Canada]] in 1858 and in many places in the [[West Indies]] in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. In [[Bermuda]] in 1970, as the pound was fixed at US$2.40 i.e. US$1 = 100d., this made the new Bermudian dollar equal to exactly 100 old pence, with the new cent equal to one old penny.
* Some countries have adopted alternative approaches, such as [[Ghana]], which created a new base unit equal to 100 old pence (not equal to the U.S. dollar), with a fractional unit equal to one old penny, [[Bahamas]], which adopted a new base unit equal to seven shillings, with a fractional unit equal to 0.84 old pence, and [[The Gambia]], which created a new base unit equal to four shillings, with a fractional unit equal to 0.48 old pence.

{| class="wikitable sortable"
|-
! New unit
! New unit / old unit
! New unit in £sd
! Old unit
! Year
|-
| {{Flagicon|South Africa|1928}} [[South African rand]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[South African pound]]
| 1961
|-
| {{Flagicon|Sierra Leone}} [[Sierra Leonean leone]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[British West African pound]]
| 1964
|-
| {{Flagicon|Ghana}} [[Ghanaian cedi]]
| 0.4167
| 8/4 = 100d.
| [[Ghanaian pound]]
| 1965
|-
| {{Flagicon|Australia}} [[Australian dollar]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Australian pound]]
| 1966
|-
| {{Flagicon|Bahamas}} [[Bahamian dollar]]
| 0.35
| 7/–
| [[Bahamian pound]]
| 1966
|-
| {{Flagicon|New Zealand}} [[New Zealand dollar]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[New Zealand pound]]
| 1967
|-
| {{Flagicon|Western Samoa}} [[Western Samoan tala]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Western Samoan pound]]
| 1967
|-
| {{Flagicon|Tonga}} [[Tongan pa{{fakau'a}}anga]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Tongan pound]]
| 1967
|-
| {{Flagicon|Zambia}} [[Zambian kwacha]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Zambian pound]]
| 1968
|-
| {{Flagicon|Jamaica}} [[Jamaican dollar]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Jamaican pound]]
| 1969
|-
| {{Flagicon|Fiji}} [[Fijian dollar]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Fijian pound]]
| 1969
|-
| {{Flagicon|Rhodesia}} [[Rhodesian dollar]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Rhodesian pound]]
| 1970
|-
| {{Flagicon|Bermuda}} [[Bermudian dollar]]
| 0.4167
| 8/4 = 100d.
| [[Bermudian pound]]
| 1970
|-
| {{Flagicon|The Gambia}} [[Gambian dalasi]]
| 0.2
| 4/–
| [[Gambian pound]]
| 1971
|-
| {{Flagicon|Malawi}} [[Malawian kwacha]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Malawian pound]]
| 1971
|-
| {{Flagicon|Ireland}} [[Irish pound]]
| 1
| £1
| Irish pound
| 1971
|-
| {{Flagicon|United Kingdom}} [[Pound sterling|Pound stg.]]
| 1
| £1
| Pound stg.
| 1971
|-
| {{Flagicon|Malta}} [[Maltese lira]]
| 1
| £M 1
| Maltese pound
| 1972
|-
| {{Flagicon|Nigeria}} [[Nigerian naira]]
| 0.5
| 10/–
| [[Nigerian pound]]
| 1973
|-
|colspan=5|<small>This table is not exhaustive.</small>
|}

The following table shows the conversion rates of common denominations of coins of the £sd systems. The {{sfrac|2}}d, 1d and 3d coins were all demonetised on decimalisation; in the UK and Ireland, the 6d (as 2{{sfrac|2}}p) continued in use until demonetised subsequently.

{| class="wikitable"
! Coin
! Amount
! New £p<br>(e.g. UK)
! {{tooltip|2=Australia and New Zealand|New $c}}<br>(e.g. NZ)
|-
| [[Half penny (British pre-decimal coin)|Halfpenny]]
| {{frac|1|2}}d.
| {{frac|5|24}}p ≈ 0.2083p
| {{frac|5|12}}c ≈ 0.4167c
|-
| [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|Penny]]
| 1d.
| {{frac|5|12}}p ≈ 0.4167p
| {{frac|5|6}}c ≈ 0.8333c
|-
| [[Threepence (British coin)|Threepence]]
| 3d.
| {{frac|1|1|4}}p
| {{frac|2|1|2}}c
|-
| [[Sixpence (British coin)|Sixpence]]
| 6d.
| {{frac|2|1|2}}p
| 5c
|-
| [[Shilling (British coin)|Shilling]]
| 1/–
| 5p
| 10c
|-
| [[Two shillings (British coin)|Florin]]
| 2/–
| 10p
| 20c
|-
| [[Half crown (British coin)|Half crown]]
| 2/6
| {{frac|12|1|2}}p
| 25c
|}

The following coins were not in common circulation in the UK at the time of decimalisation, though the ten shilling note and the pound note were.

{| class="wikitable"
! Common name
! Amount
! New £p<br>(e.g. UK)
! {{tooltip|2=Australia and New Zealand|New $c}}<br>(e.g. NZ)
|-
| [[Crown (British coin)|Crown]]
| 5/–
| 25p
| 50c
|-
| [[Half sovereign (British coin)|Half sovereign]]
| 10/–
| 50p
| $1
|-
| [[Sovereign (British coin)|Sovereign]]
| £1
| £1
| $2
|}

The [[half crown (British coin)|half crown]] might have continued in use as 12{{sfrac|2}}p but had already been demonetised.

== Pre-decimal coins and banknotes ==
The [[penny (British pre-decimal coin)|penny]] was subdivided into 4 [[Farthing (British coin)|farthings]] ({{sfrac|4}}d) until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender in the UK and Ireland. Until 31 July 1969, there was also a [[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|halfpenny]] ({{sfrac|2}}d) in circulation. The last £sd coins to cease being legal tender in the UK after Decimal Day were the sixpence (withdrawn 1980), the shilling (withdrawn 1991) and the florin (withdrawn 1993). Commemorative crowns minted post decimalisation (worth either 25p or £5) are still legal tender, but are rarely, if ever, spent.

The last £sd banknote to cease to be legal tender anywhere was the Isle of Man ten shilling note, which ceased to be legal tender there in 2013.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gov.im/news/2013/aug/01/withdrawal-of-plastic-manx-1-note/|title=Withdrawal of Manx Plastic £1 note|publisher=Isle of Man Government|access-date=2 July 2018|archive-date=2 July 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180702175719/https://www.gov.im/news/2013/aug/01/withdrawal-of-plastic-manx-1-note/|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Computing ==
[[file:IBM 1401 Control Panel.jpg|thumb|1401 Console and, below, the Auxiliary Console.  The grey knob nearest the centre of the Auxiliary Console mentions "PENCE" and "SHILL".]]

Computers and calculators sold pre-decimalisation{{snd}} mostly in the 1960s{{snd}} occasionally came with special support for the £sd system in the form of a [[Fixed-point arithmetic|fixed-point]] currency datatype. The [[IBM 1401]] is one such machine; on Sterling models with £sd support, it had a switch for selecting between IBM and [[British Standards Institution|BSI]] data layouts of £sd on its auxiliary console (see image). The [[ICT 1301]] and the [[PL/I]] language<ref>{{cite tweet |user=ianpolpo |number=1438885450144309248 |title=PL/I supported it |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210917155151/https://twitter.com/ianpolpo/status/1438885450144309248 |archive-date=17 September 2021 }}</ref> also had £sd support.

== Writing conventions and pronunciations ==
[[file:Drury Lane Notice Board VA.jpg|thumb|Notice board displaying the entry prices for the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, London, {{circa|1946}}]]
In the UK, there were several ways to represent amounts of money in writing and speech, with no formal convention; for example:

* {{nowrap|£3}} {{nowrap|17''s.''}} {{nowrap|{{sfrac|10|1|2}}''d.''}} : three pounds, seventeen shillings, and ten-and-a-half pence)<ref name="Smith">{{cite book|last=Smith|first=Adam|author-link=Adam Smith|title=An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations|orig-year=1776|edition=4|year=1786|volume=1 |page=62 |url=https://archive.org/details/bim_eighteenth-century_an-inquiry-into-the-natu_smith-adam_1786_1/page/62/mode/1up}}</ref>
* £2/3/6 (two pounds, three shillings and sixpence), spoken, unless there was cause to be punctilious, "two pound(s), three and six". Whether "pound" or "pounds" was used depended upon the speaker, varying with class, region and context.
* {{sfrac|2}}d (a coin):  as spoken, the ''lf'' in ''halfpenny'' and ''halfpence'' was always silent; they were pronounced "hayp'ny" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|eɪ|p|n|i}}<ref name="oxforddictionaries.com">{{cite web|url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/halfpenny|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120721015627/http://oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/halfpenny|url-status=dead|archive-date=21 July 2012|title=Definition of halfpenny |work=Oxford Dictionaries }}</ref> and "haypence" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|h|eɪ|p|ən|s}}<ref name="oxforddictionaries.com"/><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |encyclopedia=[[The Chambers Dictionary]] |page=755 |title=half |year=1993 |isbn=0550102558 |last1=Schwarz|first1=C. M.}}</ref> – hence the occasional spellings ''ha'penny'' and ''ha'pence'').
* {{sfrac|1|1|2}}d (a penny halfpenny, three halfpence).
* 2d: two pence, commonly spoken as ''tuppence''.
* 3d (three pence, a coin), commonly spoken as ''thruppence''. The coin commonly referred to as a "threepenny bit".
* 6d (six pence) known as a "tanner" or half a shilling.
* 11d. (elevenpence)
* 1/– (one shilling, a coin), colloquially "a bob"; the slash sign derives from the older style of a [[long s]] for [[Solidus (coin)|"solidus"]], which is also one name for the sign itself; the '–' is used in place of '0', meaning "zero pence".<ref name="OxfordDictionariesSolidus">{{cite web|url=https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/solidus?q=solidus|title=solidus: definition of solidus in Oxford dictionary (British & World English)|access-date=2014-06-10|url-status=dead|archive-date=2014-06-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140610111151/https://www.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/solidus?q=solidus|publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite book| last= Fowler| first= Francis George| title= The concise Oxford dictionary of current English| page= 829| url= https://books.google.com/books?id=p35JAAAAYAAJ&q=%22long+s%22+shilling&pg=PA829| year= 1917| access-date= 21 October 2020| archive-date= 15 January 2023| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081134/https://books.google.com/books?id=p35JAAAAYAAJ&q=%22long+s%22+shilling&pg=PA829| url-status= live}}</ref>

* 2/– (a coin): two shillings, or one [[Two shillings (British coin)|florin]], colloquially "two-bob bit" or just "two bob")
* 2/6 (a coin): two shillings and six pence, usually said as "two and six" or "a half-crown"; the value could also be spoken as "half a crown", but the coin was always a half-crown)
* 4/3: "four and threepence", the latter word pronounced "thruppence" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|r|ʌ|p|ən|s}}, "threppence" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|r|ɛ|p|ən|s}}, "throopence" with -oo- as in "foot" {{IPAc-en|ˈ|θ|r|ʊ|p|ən|s}}, or "four-and-three")
* 5/– (a former coin) five shillings, one [[Crown (British coin)|crown]], "five bob", a dollar)<ref name="Partridge-2003">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JRuNMHNcu5cC&q=slang+crown+dollar&pg=PA1489|title=The Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang|last=Partridge|first=Eric|date=2003-09-02|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-135-79542-9|language=en|access-date=21 October 2020|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081154/https://books.google.com/books?id=JRuNMHNcu5cC&q=slang+crown+dollar&pg=PA1489|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="DiCamillo">{{Cite web|url=https://www.thedicamillo.com/british-money/|title=DiCamillo British Money Guide including Amazing Historical Facts|website=DiCamillo|language=en-GB|access-date=2019-12-09|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081125/https://www.thedicamillo.com/british-money/|url-status=live}}</ref>
* £1/1/– (a former coin) one [[Guinea (coin)|guinea]] - historically an amount paid for settlement of legal disputes, but currently still the wager on the winner of a horse race.
* £1/10/– : one pound, ten shillings; one pound ten, "thirty bob"
* £1/19/{{frac|11|3|4}} : one pound, nineteen shillings and elevenpence three farthings: a [[psychological pricing|psychological price]], one farthing under £2)
* £14/8/2 : fourteen pounds, eight shillings and twopence. Commonly read "fourteen pound(s) eight and two")

[[Halfpenny (British pre-decimal coin)|Halfpennies]] and [[Farthing (British coin)|farthings]] (quarter of a penny) were represented by the appropriate symbol ({{sfrac|1|4}} for farthing, {{sfrac|1|2}} for halfpenny, or {{sfrac|3|4}} for three farthings) after the whole pence. British typewriters had these [[precomposed character]]s as standard, as  {{notatypo|{{char|½}}}} ({{sfrac|2}} or {{frac|2}}).{{efn |The style {{char|1/2}} was rare due to the risk of confusion between the [[fraction slash]] and a {{char|/}} used to divide shillings from pence. The decimal form {{char|0.5}} was never used.}}

A convention frequently used in retail pricing was to list prices over one pound all in shillings, rather than in pounds and shillings; for example, £4/18/0 would be written as 98/– (£4.90 in decimal currency). This is still seen in [[Beer in Scotland#Shilling categories|shilling categories of Scottish beer]], such as 90/– beer.

Sometimes, prices of luxury goods and furniture were expressed by merchants in [[Guinea (British coin)|guineas]], although the guinea coin had not been struck since 1799. A guinea was 21 shillings (£1.05 in decimal currency). Professionals such as lawyers<ref>{{cite book|author=John Palmer|title=The Attorney and Agents new Table of Costs in the Courts of Kings Bench and Common Pleas, Fifth edition enlarged: to which is added a table of all the stamp duties|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_UZfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA461|year=1823|pages=461|access-date=3 September 2018|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081134/https://books.google.com/books?id=_UZfAAAAcAAJ&pg=PA461|url-status=live}}</ref> and physicians, art dealers, and some others stated their fees in guineas rather than pounds, while, for example, salaries were stated in pounds per annum.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2011/12/faraday-a-man-of-contradictions/ |title=Faraday – a man of contradictions |website=Engineering and Technology |date=12 December 2011 |author=Christine Evans-Pughe |access-date=3 September 2018 |archive-date=3 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180903151035/https://eandt.theiet.org/content/articles/2011/12/faraday-a-man-of-contradictions/ |url-status=live }}</ref> Historically, at some auctions, the purchaser would bid and pay in guineas but the seller would receive the same number of pounds; the commission was the same number of shillings. [[Tattersalls]], the main auctioneer of racehorses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, continues this tradition of conducting auctions in guineas at its UK sales (in Ireland, auctions are conducted in euros). The vendor's commission is 5%.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tattersalls.com/cat/february/feb2019.pdf |work=Conditions of Sale, Paragraph 3.2 |title=Tattersalls February Sale 2019 Catalogue |page=14 |publisher=Tattersalls Limited |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=2 May 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190502051230/http://www.tattersalls.com/cat/february/feb2019.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.tattersalls.com/guidetosales.pdf |title=Guide to Sales (2018 Edition) |publisher=Tattersalls Limited |access-date=1 May 2019 |archive-date=15 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181215141302/http://tattersalls.com/guidetosales.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> The word "guineas" is still found in the names of some British horse races, even though their prize funds are now fixed in pounds – such as the [[1,000 Guineas Stakes|1,000 Guineas]] and [[2,000 Guineas Stakes|2,000 Guineas]] at [[Newmarket Racecourse]].

== Colloquial terms ==
{{More citations needed section|date=May 2019}}

{{Vertical align rows}}
{|class="vertical-align-top wikitable" border= "1" style= "width:95%; font-size: 86%"
|-
! scope="col" style= "width: 15%;"|Coin
	! scope="col" style= "width: 15%;"|Pronounced
	! scope="col" style= "width: 15%;"|Slang (UK)
	! scope="col" style= "width: 15%;"|Slang (other)
	! scope="col" style= "width: 40%;"|Notes 
|-
||[[Farthing (British coin)|Farthing]] and [[Halfpenny (British coin)|ha'penny bit]] (value: quarter&nbsp;penny and half a&nbsp;penny)	|| ˈfɑːðɪŋ, /ˈheɪpni/	||"Mag" (slang for "chattering")	||
||UK: Originally made from copper and made a ringing noise when dropped. The game of "penny pitching" (bouncing pennies against a wall to see how far they would rebound on to the pavement) was called "mag flying".
|-
||[[Threepence (British coin)|Threepenny bit]] (value: three pence)	||Thrupney bit or threpney bit	||Joey (also see [[#Fourpence|Fourpence]])	||[[Australia]]: trey (also spelt tray), or a trey bit, from the French "trois" meaning three.<ref name=auscoins>{{cite web|title=Slang Terms for Money|url=https://www.australian-coins.com/collecting-coins/slang-terms-for-money/|website=The Australian Coin Collecting Blog|access-date=2017-08-24|archive-date=24 August 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170824134425/https://www.australian-coins.com/collecting-coins/slang-terms-for-money/|url-status=live}}</ref>
[[Union of South Africa|South Africa]]<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=bEAEAAAAMBAJ&dq=tickey+south+africa&pg=PA51 |title=Hear the Tickey Bottle Tinkle |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219151544/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bEAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA51&lpg=PA51&dq=tickey+south+africa&source=bl&ots=G1jskMkXTE&sig=9EhjqMqJNppOKwIfHvA2wCOEYE8&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiwwv656vbKAhVCVhQKHTrjCr8Q6AEIqQEwEg#v=onepage&q=tickey%20south%20africa&f=false |archive-date=19 December 2022 |magazine=The Rotarian |date=June 1954}}</ref> and [[Southern Rhodesia]]: tickey.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=YKQNAQAAIAAJ&q=tickey+southern+rhodesia |title=Southern Rhodesia, Past and Present |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219151525/https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YKQNAQAAIAAJ&q=tickey+southern+rhodesia&dq=tickey+southern+rhodesia&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwinroPr6vbKAhUILZoKHbliA8UQ6AEILjAC |archive-date=19 December 2022 |publisher=Chronicle Stationery and Book Store |year=1945}}</ref>
||UK:  When the new threepence coin replaced the fourpence coin in circulation in 1845, it took over its nickname. The coin was silver or silver alloy from 1845 to 1937 and a 12-sided bronze coin from 1937 to 1971.
|-
||Fourpenny bit (value: four pence)	|| ˈfɔːp(ə)ni	||Joey	||	||UK:  Also known as "[[Groat (coin)|groat]]", from the mediaeval four-penny silver coin of the same name. "Joey" was from the first name of [[Joseph Hume]], the [[Radicals (UK)|Radical]] [[Member of Parliament (United Kingdom)|Member of Parliament]] who championed its reintroduction.
|-
||[[Sixpence (British coin)|Sixpenny bit]] (value: six pence)	|| ˈsɪksp(ə)ns	||Tanner, tester, testoon, sprasi (pronounced "sprarzee")<ref>{{cite book|last=Levin|first=Bernard|date=1990|title=Now Read On|publisher=Jonathan Cape|page=244|isbn=0-224-03008-6}}</ref>	||Australia: zack	||UK:  "Tanner" was derived from the [[Romani language|Romany]] word ''tano'', meaning "small", because it was smaller than a shilling. ''Tester'' and ''testoon'' derived from the French coin ''[[Livre tournois#Accounting currency|teston]]''. ''Sprasi'', described by [[Bernard Levin]], is unknown.
|-
||[[Shilling (British coin)|Shilling]]	||ˈʃɪlɪŋ	||Bob or "thin 'un"	||Australia: bob, deener
||UK: "Thin 'un" because it was thinner than a sovereign coin.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://mjhughescoins.com/how-quids-bobs-florins-tanners-and-joeys-got-their-names/ |title=How Quids, Bobs, Florins, Tanners and Joeys Got Their Names |access-date=6 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106165744/https://mjhughescoins.com/how-quids-bobs-florins-tanners-and-joeys-got-their-names/  |url-status=live }}</ref>
Australia: "deener" is likely to have derived from the [[Latin]] "dinar" or "denarius".
|-
||Two-shilling piece, [[Two shillings (British coin)|florin]]	||	||Two bob, two-shilling bit, two-bob bit	||Australia: two bob	||UK:  Perhaps an early attempt at decimalisation, being {{frac|£|1|10}}).
|-
||[[Half crown (British coin)|Half a crown]] or half crown (value: two shillings and sixpence)	||	||	||	||An equivalent coin was not issued in the 1971 decimal currency range since there was no need for a {{frac|12|1|2}} New Pence coin. Australia never had a half crown coin.
|-
||[[Crown (British coin)|Crown]] or five-shilling piece (value: five shillings)	||	||Dollar<ref name="Partridge-2003" /><ref name="DiCamillo" />	||	||
|-
||[[Bank of England 10 shilling note|Ten-shilling note]]	||	||Ten bob (note), half a bar	||Australia: ten bob	||UK:  First printed in 1914 by the Treasury during World War I to conserve silver. These early Treasury notes (especially the 1st and 2nd Series from 1914 to 1917) were nicknamed "Bradburys", from the prominent stylised signature of [[John Bradbury, 1st Baron Bradbury|Sir John Bradbury]], [[Permanent Secretary to the Treasury]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/withdrawn-banknotes |title=£1 1st Series Treasury Issue |date=2024 |website=Bank of England |access-date=15 January 2024 }}</ref> 
|-
||[[Pound sterling|Pound]]	||	||Both coins and notes: quid, nicker. Coins: "sov", "thick 'un". Notes: bar, sheet, note.	||Australia: quid, fiddly-did	||"Quid" may have originated in the Latin phrase [[quid pro quo]].  
UK:  "Thick 'un" because it was thicker than a shilling.
Australia: Fiddly-did was derived from word association (fiddly <big>→</big> fid <big>→</big> quid).<ref name=auscoins/>
|}
{{clear}}

== In popular culture ==
The currency of Knuts, Sickles and Galleons in the ''[[Harry Potter]]'' books is a parody of the £sd system, with 29 Knuts to a Sickle and 17 Sickles to a Galleon. It serves as the currency of the Wizarding World, while pounds are still used by Muggles, the non-magical people.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hp-lexicon.org/2018/02/24/wizard-currency/|title=Wizard Currency|date=24 February 2018|website=The Harry Potter Lexicon|access-date=7 March 2020|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727061840/https://www.hp-lexicon.org/2018/02/24/wizard-currency/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tJg6mQdE32UC&q=+knuts+|title=Harry Potter Collectibles|date=7 March 2000|isbn=9781585980734|via=Google Books|access-date=21 October 2020|archive-date=15 January 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115081123/https://books.google.com/books?id=tJg6mQdE32UC&q=+knuts+|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[LSD|Lysergic acid diethylamide]] was sometimes called "pounds, shillings and pence" during the 1960s, because of the abbreviation LSD.<ref>{{cite book|last=Dickson|first=Paul|title=Slang: The Authoritative Topic-By-Topic Dictionary of American Lingoes from All Walks of Life|year=1998|publisher=Pocket Books|page=134|isbn=0-671-54920-0}}</ref> The English rock group [[the Pretty Things]] released a 1966 single titled "£.s.d." that highlighted the [[double entendre]].<ref>{{cite web | title=Discography | website=The Pretty Things | date=2008-05-28 | url=http://www.theprettythings.com/disco.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080528084649/http://www.theprettythings.com/disco.html | archive-date=2008-05-28 | url-status=dead | access-date=2023-12-08}}</ref> The [[Chemical Defence Experimental Establishment]] called the first field trial with LSD as a chemical weapon "Moneybags" as a pun.<ref name="Roberts2008">{{cite book|author=Andy Roberts|title=Albion Dreaming: A popular history of LSD in Britain (Revised Edition with a new foreword by Dr. Sue Blackmore)|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2caIAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA52|date=30 September 2008|publisher=Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd|isbn=978-981-4328-97-5|page=52}}</ref>

The score of 26 at [[darts]] (one dart in each of the top three spaces) was sometimes called "half-a-crown" as late as the 1990s, though this did start to confuse the younger players. A 26 score is also referred to as "Breakfast", since 2/6, or half a crown, was the standard cost for breakfast pre-decimalisation.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Europe|Money}}

* {{annotated link|Coins of the pound sterling}}
* {{annotated link|Irish pound}}
* {{annotated link|Decimal time}}

== Notes ==
{{notelist}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}

* {{cite web |title=Pounds, Shillings and Pence |url=https://www.royalmintmuseum.org.uk/journal/history/pounds-shillings-and-pence/ |website=The Royal Mint Museum |access-date=16 February 2021}}

{{Navbox currency symbols}}

[[Category:Currencies of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Numismatics]]
[[Category:Economic history of Ireland]]