Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

To: Lonesome in Massachussets

Some of them are nicknames for the same coin, e.g. bob = shilling (12d), tanner/half-shilling = sixpence (6d).

The “tuppence” (2p) came to be with decimalization, and the old Roman-based denominations (s for “solidus” and d for “denarius”, but not £ for “libra”) were dropped.


55 posted on 12/07/2019 9:16:42 AM PST by Olog-hai ("No Republican, no matter how liberal, is going to woo a Democratic vote." -- Ronald Reagan, 1960)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 52 | View Replies ]


To: Olog-hai
FIFY: decimalizsation

I know. I started a person study of old British coinage and terms for fans of pre-decimalisation British fiction.

The score of 26 at darts (one dart in each of the top three spaces) was sometimes called "half-a-crown" as late as the 1990s, though this did start to confuse the younger players. 26 is also referred to as "Breakfast", since 2/6 or half a crown was the standard cost for breakfast pre-decimalisation.

57 posted on 12/07/2019 9:28:31 AM PST by Lonesome in Massachussets (Every election is more or less an advance auction of stolen goods. - H. L. Mencken)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 55 | View Replies ]

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article


FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson