The shilling
The shilling was a silver coin in Britain's pounds, shilling and pence currency system.
A shilling was worth twelve pence (12d). It was also one twentieth of a pound.
The most common slang word for a shilling was a 'bob' as in 'bob a job'.
A shilling is worth 5p in Britain's decimal system.
Origins of the shilling
In Saxon monetary system intrduced by King Offa, one pound was 240 Saxon pennies and also 20 solidii. A solidus was twelve Saxon pennies. There were no coins or notes for the pound, or the solidus. They were just accounting units.
The term 'shilling' derives from the Saxon word 'scilling'. Scilling was a term of monetary value. It often had the value of twelve pennies (or one solidus), but the precise sum varied in different parts of Saxon England.
The first coin with the same value as one shilling was minted in 1489 in the reign of Henry VII. Originally it was called a testoon.
In the reign of Edward VI (1547 to 1553) the coins were called shillings for the first time.
The modern shilling
The shilling familiar to someone from the 1960s has its origin in the reign of George III.
In 1816, the Royal Mint introduced a complete new set of coins. The range include a new gold sovereign, which replaced the guinea. There were also new silver coins for half-crowns, shillings and sixpences.
Decimalisation
The last shillings were minted in 1966. A new coin of the same size and weight, but with a value of five new pence was first minted in 1968. Given that there were one hundred new pence in a pound it had the same value as the old one shilling coin. The old coins continued in ciruclation alongside the new coin and were treated as five pence pieces after 1971.
The shilling remained legal tender until 1990. All shilling coins minted from 1816 onwards were still legal tender until this date.
What could you buy for a shilling?
In 1971 when Britain went decimal a shilling was worth 50p today.
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