The origin of "Bob" referring to the Shilling is uncertain, and possibly originates in another language where the foreign word is mispronounced. The origin of any slang term is often lost in the mists of time. There are many theories:
"Bob" was the slang term for a Shilling. There were 12 Pennies to the Shilling.
A "bob" was a shilling. 12 pence to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound pre-decimalisation'
Formerly a shilling, now 5 pence.
== == there was something called a shilling...i think. =] there was something called a shilling...i think. =]
The Florin or Two Shilling coin was most commonly known as "Two Bob" and sometimes known as "Flo", a slang shortening of Florin.
The 'bob' is an old slang name for an English shilling. Shillings are no longer used. Nor do you state which countries dollar you are referring to.
In the UK a bob was a slang term for a shilling. There were 20 shillings in a pound. A ten shilling note was commonly called a ten-bob note. There were 2 half-pennies to the penny and 3 pennies to the threepenny (pronounced thrupenny: the u is pronounced as in hut; and commonly known as a thrupenny-bit). There were 6 pennies in a sixpence (commonly known as a tanner) and 12 pennies in a shilling. There were 2 shillings in a florin (commonly known as a two-bob bit) and 2 shillings and sixpence in a half-crown. Before that there were 4 farthings in a penny and 5 shillings in a crown and 21 shillings in a guinea. The Mad Hatter in Alice in Wonderland wore a top hat with a 10/6 price tag on it which meant 10 shillings and sixpence which was half a guinea, a considerable amount of money at the time the book was written. Halfpennies and pennies were copper coloured; thrupenny-bits were brass; tanners, shillings, florins, and half-crowns were silver-coloured. In the UK today a bob is worth 5 pence (5p) which is yet one-twentieth of a pound as was the shilling in its day. In the USA today a bob would be worth around 7 cents.
shilling
Bill Murray
'bob' is a slang word for the old British Shilling, (20 shillings = 1 pound), we no longer use the shilling, but the phrase, 'a few bob' lives on, literally it would mean anything from a few shillings to thousands or even millions of pounds. e.g. "Petes done well for himself, nice car, nice house, exotic holidays, I bet he's worth a few bob!"
The Royal Mint did not issue any coins called a Quarter-Shilling, but a quarter of a Shilling was a Threepence, a coin that was issued for hundreds of years. The Bailiwick of Jersey, one of the Channel Islands, issued a "One Fourth of a Shilling" coin variously from 1957 to 1966.
There was no British coin minted called a Half-Shilling. The Sixpence was valued at a Half-Shilling. If you have a coin with Half-Shilling inscribed on it somewhere, please provide the country name and any other useful information about the coin.