Old money - FAQ
Shillings
How many shillings in a pound?
Under the pre-decimal system there were 20 shillings in a pound.
How many pennies in a shilling?
There are 12 old pence, or 12d, in one shilling.
How much is a shilling in today's money
A shilling is worth 5 new pence. Shillings remained legal tender until 1990.
What about allowing for inflation?
A shilling in 1971, when the UK adopted decimal currency, would be worth about 55p at today's prices.
Was there a coin worth two shillings?
Yes. There was a two shilling piece which was minted from 1849 until 1967. It was known as a florin. The first florins were marked 'one florin - one tenth of a pound'. It was an early attempt at decimal currency.
Florins remained legal tender until 1993 and were worth 10p. The florin was the last old money coin to be in circulation in the UK.
How many shillings in a crown?
A crown is 5 shillings. There are 4 crowns in a pound.
Half a crown is two shillings and 6 pence or 2.5 shillings.
How many shillings in a guinea?
A guinea is 21 shillings.
Pennies
How many old pennies were there to one pound?
There were 240 old pennies, or 240d, in a pound.
Crowns and half crowns
What is 2 shillings and 6 pence in today's money?
2 shillings and 6 pence is 12½p in UK decimal money. Before 1971 it was worth more in real terms. Think about 2 shillings and 6 pence as £1.50 to get an idea of how much it would buy.
See What could you buy for half a crown in 1969?.
How much was 'two and six'?
'Two and six' was two shillings and six pence. Two and six is 12½ new pence. It was also known as half a crown and there was a coin labelled 'half crown' which was worth two shillings and six pence.
How much was a crown?
A crown was five shillings (25p today) or a quarter of a pound. Crowns were usually only minted for special occasions. People kept them as souvenirs rather than spent them.
Pre-decimal crowns were minted on the following occasions:
- 1935 - King George V - Silver Jubilee
- 1937 - Coronation of King George VI
- 1951 - The Festival of Britain
- 1953 - Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II
- 1960 - No particular reason given
- 1965 - To commemorate the life of Sir Winston Churchill
Read more about commemorative crowns
Farthings
What is a farthing?
A farthing is one quarter of an old penny. Today it would be worth a tenth of a modern penny. It was Britain's smallest coin and carried a picture of Britain's smallest bird, the wren.
The Royal Mint issued the last farthing in 1956 and withdrew it from circulation on 31 December 1960.
In 1959 a farthing was still a very small sum, the worth one and a half new pence. You could not buy much with a farthing. You might get a farthing in change for goods whose price ended with 11¾d or 1 farthing short of a shilling. Many people refused them or put them in the charity box. Once the farthing disappeared, prices ended with 11½d.
One restaurant customer found a farthing tip was the ideal way to reward bad service.
How many farthings in a guinea?
A guinea is one pound one shilling, or twenty-one shillings. There are twelve pence in a shilling and four farthings in a penny. So one guinea is:
21 x 12 x 4 = 1008 farthings
How many farthings in a pound?
By the same logic there are 20 shillings in a pound so:
20 x 12 x 4 = 960 farthings in a pound.
Read more about farthings.
Old money cheat sheet
How much was a shilling, a florin, a crown, a pound and a guinea in farthings, in pennies and in shillings.
| Shilling | Florin | Crown | Pound | Guinea | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In farthings | 48 | 96 | 240 | 960 | 1008 |
| In pennies | 12 | 24 | 96 | 240 | 252 |
| In shillings | 1 | 2 | 5 | 20 | 21 |
Article by Steven Braggs, March 2018
Comments
What happened to the 140 pennies in the pound when it changed in 1971 ???
Hi Kevin,
There were never 140 pence in a pound. Before 1971 there were 240. After 1971 100. The old pennies were replaced by a new decimal penny (one new penny). It was much smaller, but was worth 2.4 the value of the old 1 penny. The old pennies were collected in by the banks and melted down. Although many people kept them.