As We Buy and sell Pre-decimal coins every day and are always getting ask questions about our old money.
So here is a page to answer some of the most popular questions.
Pre-decimal money was based on the following;
12 pennies (d) to 1 shilling,
20 shillings to the pound (£)
so in turn there was 240 pennies (d) in the pound.
Pre-decimal currency was sometimes called LSD, which was written £-s-d. The pound symbol is an ornate L, from the Latin 'libra' - a pound. The penny symbol was 'd' for denarius, a Roman coin.
L.S.D. (pounds, shillings and pence) | Decimal Equivalent |
---|---|
Farthing (quarter of an old penny) | 10 per 1 p |
Ha'penny (half an old penny) | 5 per 1 p |
Penny | 2 and a half per 1 p |
Thruppence (threepenny bit) | Slightly over 1 p |
Sixpence (tanner) | 2.5 p |
Shilling (bob) | 5 p |
Florin (two bob) | 10 p |
Half crown | 12.5 p |
Ten Shilling Note (ten bob note) | 50 p |
£1 Note | 100 p |
Slang for British Money
Some pre-decimalisation coins or denominations became commonly known by slang terms, perhaps the most well known being bob for a shilling, and quid for a pound. A farthing was a mag, a silver threepence was a joey and the later aluminium-bronze threepence was called a threepenny bit (pronounced threp'ny bit), a sixpence was a tanner , the two-shilling coin or florin was a two-bob bit, and the two shillings and sixpence coin or half-crown was a half dollar.
Slang term | Amount |
tanner | sixpence - pre decimalisation |
bob | a shilling - pre decimalisation |
Oxford | 5 shillings or a crown [cockney rhyming slang = Oxford Scholar] |
nicker or quid | £1 |
lady | £5 (fiver). [cockney rhyming slang = Lady Godiva] |
tenner | £10 |
score | £20 [cockney rhyming slang = apple core ] |
pony | £25 |
ton | £100 |
monkey | £500 |
grand | £1000 |