This article concerns British Coinage, the coinage of the United Kingdom.
For related topics see:
| Table of contents |
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2 Pre-decimal system 3 Silver Content 4 History of the Penny 5 Historical Coins 6 Denominations of pre-decimal coins and their years of production 7 See Also |
The British currency was Decimalised on February 15, 1971. The basic unit of currency - the Pound (or Pound Sterling) - was unaffected. Pre decimalisation there were 240 pennies in a pound, now there are 100. The new coins were marked with the wording "New Penny" (singular) or "New Pence" (plural) to distinguish them from the old. The word New was dropped after ten years. The symbol p was also adopted to distinguish the new pennies from the old, which used the symbol d.
The first pound coin was introduced in 1983 to replace the Bank of England £1 banknote which was discontinued in 1984 (although the Scottish banks continued producing them for some time afterwards. The last of them, the Royal Bank of Scotland £1 note, remained in production until 2003). A circulating bimetallic £2 coin was also introduced in 1998 (first minted in, and dated, 1997) - there had previously been commemorative £2 coins which did not normally circulate.
Current Coinage
Coins and Dates
Several of these coins have changed in size and design since first introduction.
| Denomination | Diameter | Thickness | Weight | Composition | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One penny | Copper-plated steel | smooth | |||
| Two Pence | Copper-plated steel | smooth | |||
| Five Pence | Cupro-nickel | milled, wire or flat edge | |||
| Ten Pence | Cupro-nickel | milled, wire or flat edge | |||
| Twenty Pence | Cupro-nickel | smooth, seven-sided | |||
| Fifty Pence | Cupro-nickel | smooth, seven-sided | |||
| One Pound | Nickel-brass | milled with variable inscription | |||
| Two Pound | Inner: Cupro-nickel Outer: Nickel-brass |
milled with inscription STANDING ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS |
Pre-decimalisation, the Pound was divided into 240 pennies rather than 100, though it was rarely expressed in this way. Rather it was expressed in terms of Pounds, Shillings and Pence, where:
Demonetised Decimal Coins
Pre-decimal system
Thus:
£1 = 240 pence
and a penny was further subdivided at various times, though these divisions vanished as inflation made them irrelevant:
1 penny = 2 halfpennies and (earlier) 4 farthings.
The standard way of writing shillings and pence is
The pre-decimalisation coins with exact decimal equivalent values continued in use after 1971 alongside the new coins, albeit with new names, (eg the shilling became the 5p coin). Some, such as the 6d, were withdrawn after a short time but others remained legal tender until they were replaced by smaller coins in the early 1990s. Pre-decimalisation shillings were used as 5ps, with many people calling the new 5p coin a shilling, since it remained 1/20 of a pound, but was now worth 5p instead of 12d.
Some pre-decimalisation coins became commonly known by slang terms. Perhaps the most well known being bob for a shilling, and quid for a pound. A silver threepence was a joey, a sixpence was a tanner and a half crown was a half dollar. Quid remains as popular slang for one or more pounds to this day in Britain.
In the 12th century a new standard for English coinage was established by Henry II, the Sterling Silver standard of metal -- 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper used in coinage. This was a harder wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way to discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge we see on coins today.
The mediaeval penny would have been the equivalent of around 1s 6d in value in 1915. British government sources suggest that prices have risen over 61 fold since 1914, so a mediaeval sterling silver penny might be worth around £4.50 today, and a farthing (a quarter penny) would have the value of slightly more than today's pound. Inflation has eroded currency value by that much.
For further detail on the history of the penny, see Penny
Note that the mediaeval florin, half florin, and quarter florin were gold coins intended to circulate in Europe as well as in England and were valued as much more than the Victorian and later florin and double florin. The mediaeval florins were withdrawn within a year because they contained insufficient gold for their face value and thus were unacceptable to merchants.
All British coins produced since 1662 have been milled, i.e. produced by machine; the first milled coins were produced during the reign of Elizabeth I and periodically during the reigns of James I and Charles I, but there was opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering.
Slang
Silver Content
From the time of Charlemagne until the 12th century, the silver currency of England was made from the highest purity silver available. Unfortunately there were drawbacks to minting currency of Fine Silver, notably the level of wear it suffered, and the ease with which coins could be "clipped", or trimmed by those dealing in the currency. History of the Penny
The penny was originally one 'pennyweight' of silver. A pennyweight is a unit of mass which is the same as 1.555 grams, or 1/240th of a troy pound. So, a penny was literally, as well as monetarily, 1/240th of a troy pound of sterling silver. The weight of this coin was instituted by Charlemagne, and the purity of 92.5% silver (sterling silver) was instituted by Henry II in 1158 with the "Tealby Penny" -- a hammered coin. At this time the standard unit of currency in England was the penny. Historical Coins
The old British system of money, which evolved from mediaeval times, used a selection of coins known as guineas, pounds, Crownss, Half-Crowns, shillings, thruppence, pennys, half-pennys and farthings. Other currency units included a sovereign and the groat. Denominations of pre-decimal coins and their years of production
Note: * = denomination issued for use in the colonies, usually in Ceylon, Malta, or the West Indies, but normally counted as part of the British coinage.