Pre-decimal

[poliphilo]

At the back of the Penguin Kipps there's a note explaining the pre-decimal British currency- sixpences, florins, guineas.  My first thought was, "surely everybody knows about that"- and then I did some calculations and realised you'd have to be pushing 50 to have ever worked with the old money. It's things like this that make me realise how venerable I am.

Comments

[oakmouse]

The value of the sovereign fluctuated, during different periods of its history, between 20 and 22 shillings. Sovereigns were in and out of minting, and it wasn't until 1817 that they completely replaced guineas, which had stopped being minted in 1813.

There's a Georgette Heyer Regency-era detective-and-romance novel, The Tollooth, whose plot revolves around the theft of a shipment of the new sovereigns in the spring of 1817. The stolen coins must be hidden away until enough sovereigns are in circulation for them to pass, because they weren't released into circulation until June of that year.

/history lecture

[oakmouse]

Argh, sorry. Tollbooth.

[loxian.livejournal.com]

I read it as tollbooth anyway... I like history lectures. Thank you!

[oakmouse]

You're welcome! I'm a Regency buff and my dad's a coin collector, which leads to some odd bits of knowledge inside my head.