Pounds,shillings and pence.

Until 1968 the British currency consisted of Pounds, Shillings and Pence

£ s d


The basic unit, the Pound £

was divided into 20 Shillings s

And each shilling was divided in to 12 pence d

Thus we added up monetary figures in three columns

The right hand column was for pence, which we added up by twelves. Each complete 12 was carried over into the middle column, for 12 pence made one shilling.

e.g. if the right hand column added up to 38, we could carry forward 3 (36 pence makes 3 shillings) and leave the remainder as 2d.

Then we counted the middle column in twenties. Each complete 20 was carried over to the left hand column as a pound.


e.g. if the middle column added up to 90, we would carry forward 4 ( 80 shillings makes 4 pounds), and leave the remainder as 10.

This explains why, when we learned our “times tables” we needed to master the 12 times table - so that we could add up those 12 pence makes a shilling column.

Of course this system baffled and confused overseas visitors to Britain - we liked it that way!

In 1971 the system was decimalised, so that the British pound is now simply divided into 100 pence.

The highest value Bank note we ever saw was for £5. The earlier notes I saw were printed on large and very thin paper. They represented a fortune! Smaller £5 notes were already taking over.

Much more common was the one pound note. And we had a ten shilling note.

In coinage there was a rare “crown” worth five shillings. These were minted for special occasions.

Then there was the half crown - worth two shillings and six pence.
( Eight half crowns made a pound).

That was followed by the florin - worth two shillings.

Then the shilling itself (twenty shillings make a pound)

Followed by the sixpence, the three pence, the penny, and the half penny.

There were still the occasional farthings in circulation, worth one quarter of a penny. You might also encounter the rare silver three pence coin - made of silver. These were treasured and set aside to be cooked in the Christmas pudding, a little bonus if you found one in your slice.

A pound was always a “quid”.

A shilling was a “bob”

A sixpence was a “tanner”

A penny was a “copper”


Pronunciation was also hazardous for overseas visitors.

A half-penny was nearly always abbreviated in writing to “ha’penny” , but it was pronounced “hape-knee”.

Two pence was always “tuppence”. Three pence was “thrupence” - and no-one ever had ever had a “thrup-knee” coin, it was always a “thrup-knee bit”.

Similarly a florin (two shilling coin) was rarely graced by than name - it was always “two bob”.

Two other notes for now:

If a theatre show, a film, or a purchased article did not live up to expectations we might refer to it as a “tup-knee ‘ape-knee” thing. (two and a half pence!)

No longer a coin, but still in common parlance was the “guinea” - worth £1.1s. 0d (Twenty one shillings.)

Advertisers loved the “guinea”. For instance a fine fur coat might be advertised at 99 guineas. That “sounded” less than £ 100, but in fact it was 99 pounds plus 99 shillings, almost £ 105

All this in preparation for tomorrow “Here a penny, there a shilling”.

And, why not do your own Google search to find out the origins of “Pounds, shillings and pence” and that £ s d symbol.