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Two shillings and sixpence (half a crown, or an eighth of a £) was written as '2/6', rarely as '2s 6d' ('d' being the abbreviation for denarius, a penny). The shilling itself was equal to twelve pence. In the traditional pounds, shillings and pence system, there were 20 shillings per pound and 12 pence per shilling, making 240 pence in a pound.
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 shilling categories of Scottish beer, such as 90/– beer.
The British shilling, abbreviated "1s" or "1/-", was a unit of currency and a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1 ⁄ 20 of one pound, or twelve pence. It was first minted in the reign of Henry VII as the testoon, and became known as the shilling, from the Old English scilling, [1] sometime in the mid-16th century. It circulated until 1990.
Before decimalisation in 1971, the pound was divided into 240 pence rather than 100, though it was rarely expressed in this way. Rather it was expressed in terms of pounds, shillings and pence, where: £1 = 20 shillings (20s). 1 shilling = 12 pence (12d). Thus: £1 = 240d.
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 therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2/14/5
A pound = 20 shillings = 240 silver pennies (formerly) The pound sterling emerged after the adoption of the Carolingian monetary system in England c. 800 . Here is a summary of changes to its value in terms of silver or gold until 1816.
It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally representing a value of 20 shillings in sterling specie, equal to one pound, [2] but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one ...
Decimal Day (Irish: Lá Deachúil) [1] in the United Kingdom and in Ireland was Monday 15 February 1971, the day on which each country decimalised its respective £sd currency of pounds, shillings, and pence. Before this date, the British pound sterling (symbol "£") was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 (old) pence, a total of 240 pence ...