I Find This Very Interesting - Understanding Old British Money

Quite a good summary of British pre-decimal money.

Farthings disappeared when I was a baby, but I remember halfpennies and halfcrowns in circulation. However, some gasoline pumps showed prices to the nearest farthing, just as today fuel prices are often shown to the nearest tenth-of-a-penny.

Something I clearly recall is that prices between £1 and £5 in shops were often posted up just in shillings and pence. I don't know if this was because they looked cheaper that way, or perhaps the label machines didn't have a £ symbol! I particularly remember as a young kid being dragged around my Mom's favorite clothes store - Marks & Spencer - and items such as dresses or skirts were often priced 29/11 or 39/11 rather than £1 9s 11d or £1 19s 11d.

When someone called out a price ending in sixpence, it would be "Two and six" or "Seven and six" but if you asked a price and it didn't end in sixpence, the shopkeeper would always say "Two shillings and sevenpence" or whatever. You never said "Two and seven".

I also remember that prizes on TV game shows were often quoted in guineas - a hundred guineas (£105) sounded much more special than a hundred pounds!

@ Errers and Varietys


You are welcome

Thank you for this! On a visit to the UK about 15 years ago I received a farthing in change. I tried asking about it but the best answer I could get was that it was from the old system. I've been (off and on) trying to figure out the pre-decimal system since, and haven't found anything as clear as this.

In about 1990 I was on a course with IBM here in the UK. At break I found myself behind a German gentleman at the coffee vending machine - he was cursing and searing because the machine would not accept his coins. When I offered to help I discovered he was trying to use old Half Crowns and sixpences! He had saved them since his last visit to the UK, which must have been before Feb 1971 - a bit of a tightwad I suspect.

Interesting. But some of the facts are off. The predecimal system predated the Norman conquest. Silver pennies at 240 to the pound were introduced by King Offa ( died 796AD ) following the Carolingian system.

3d coins were only briefly called "Joeys". That nickname belonged to the 4d or groat coin reintroduced in the 19th century. When the 4d disappeared, some of my references say the name was transferred to the silver 3d. My father's generation are from around WW2 time, and none of them called it that to my knowledge. This could be localised usage or non-usage of the name. I recall must people just calling it "thruppence".