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The major pre-decimal coins listed below include some that were withdrawn long before the 1971 decimalisation but were very commonly used. Some of the withdrawn coins, for instance Sovereigns, have been minted after decimalisation as purely commemorative, collectable and investment coins.
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