- How to Buy?
- Payment Options
- Delivery Options
- Gold Storage
- Storage at Brink's
- Gold Investment Guide
- Why buy gold?
- Is gold a good investment?
- Why physical gold?
- Best time to buy gold?
- Gold bars vs coins?
- Gold vs Silver
- Gold - Silver Ratio explained
- VAT on bullion
- CGT on bullion
- Legal tender coins
- Top 5 Gold Investments
- Top 5 Silver Investments
- Gold vs ISAs
- Gold vs Buy-to-Let
- Gold vs FTSE 100
- Gold vs Bitcoin
- Where to buy gold?
- Why buy from us?
- Where to sell gold?
- Coin Shops
- Gold Price Forecasts
- Top 10 Gold Producers
- Top 10 Gold Reserves
- Gold Britannia vs Sovereign
- Britannia coin designs
- Sovereign coin designs
- Sovereign Mintages
- Sovereign mint marks
- British coin specs
- What is a proof coin?
- Royal Mint bullion
- The Queen's Beasts
- Royal Mint lunar coins
- Bullion Refiners
- British coin mints
- Krugerrands
- Gold Tola - India & Pakistan
- Countdown to Brexit
- The Fine Jewellery Company
- Bullion Index
How To Buy Gold
The ultimate guide to investing in GoldRead Investment Guide
Pre-decimal currency
For the majority of English (and eventually British) history, a pre-decimal monetary system based on pounds, shillings and pence was used. In this pre-decimal currency, one pound sterling was divided into twenty shillings, and one shilling into 12 pence. This meant there were 240 pennies to the pound.
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Following
decimalisation,
shillings were no longer used and the pound was instead equivalent to one hundred pennies.
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When did UK currency begin?
The UK’s pre-decimal currency system is claimed to date from ancient Roman times. The Romans at that time used coins denominated in the Latin words librae, solidi and denarii. Similar to our eventual system, one Roman librae was divided into twenty solidi, and one solidi into twelve denarii. It was because of this that the pre-decimal currency was abbreviated to £sd or Lsd.
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Pre-decimal currency UK
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Below is a list of some of the main pre-decimal currency UK coins. For a full list, check out our
UK coins
page, which includes pre and post-decimalisation currency. We also cover the
names for a number of old coins
from outside of the UK/England.
The major pre-decimal coins listed below include some that were withdrawn long before the 1971 decimalisation but were very commonly used. Some of the withdrawn coins, for instance Sovereigns, have been minted after decimalisation as purely commemorative, collectable and investment coins.
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Name | Value | Notation | Nickname | Dates | Composition |
Farthing | 1/4 pence | 1/4d | Joey | Early 1700s - 1960 | Tin, Copper, Bronze |
Half-Penny | 1/2 pence | 1/2d | Ha'penny | Early 1700s - 1969 | Copper, Bronze |
Penny | 1 pence | 1d | 1707 - 1971 | Silver, Copper, Bronze | |
Half-Groat |
2 pence |
2d | 1351 - 1797 | Sterling Silver, Copper | |
Threepence | 3 pence | 3d | Joey, Thru'pence and Threepenny bit | 1547 - 1970 | Silver, Nickel-Brass |
Groat | 4 pence | 4d | 1351 - 1846 | Silver | |
Sixpence | 6 pence | 6d | Tanner or Sixpenny bit | 1551 - 1980 | Silver, Cupronickel |
Shilling | 12 pence | 1/- | Bob | 1503 - 1990 | Silver, Cupronickel |
Florin (Two Shillings) | 24 pence | 2/- | 1849 - 1993 | Silver, Cupronickel | |
Half-Crown | 30 pence | 2/6 | Two and six, half a dollar | 1549 - 1970 | Silver, Cupronickel |
Crown | 60 pence | 5/- | 1526 - 1990 | 22 Carat Gold, Silver | |
Sovereign | 1 pound | £1 | 1817 - 1914 | 22 Carat Gold | |
Pound Note | 1 pound | £1 | A Quid | 1797 - 1988 | Paper |
Guinea | 1 pound and 5 pence | 21/- | 1717 - 1816 | 22 Carat Gold | |
Five Pounds | 5 pounds | £5 | A Fiver | 1793 - Present | Paper |