What money did they use in Victorian times?

Answer 1

In these days of decimalisation of currency, it is difficult to understand the currency used in Britain before that country 'went decimal' in 1971. The following chart may help to explain it. Money was divided into pounds (£) shillings (s. or /-) and pennies (d.). Thus, 4 pounds, eight shillings and fourpence would be written as £4/8/4d. or £4-8-4d.

There were: *20 shillings in £1 - a shilling was often called 'bob', so 'ten bob' was 10/- *12 pennies in1 shilling *240 pennies in £1

Pennies were broken down into other coins: *A farthing (a fourth- thing) was ¼ of a penny *Halfpenny (hay-p'ny) was ½ of a penny *Three farthings was ¾ of a penny

Other coins of a value less than 1/- were *A half-groat (2d) *6 x 2d = 1/- *A threepenny bit (3d) made of silver 4 x 3d. = 1/- *A groat (4d) 3 x 4d = 1/- *Sixpence (silver) - often called a 'tanner' 2 x 6d = 1/-

Coins of more than 1/- but less than £1 in value were *A two shilling piece (called a florin) 10 x 2/- = £1 *A half-crown ( 2/6d) 8 x 2/6d = £1 *A crown (5/-) 4 x 5/- = £1 *Ten shillings (a half-sovereign) 2 x 10/- = £1 *A half-guinea (10/6d) 2 x 10/6d = £1/1/-

A £1 coin was called a Sovereign and was made of gold. A paper pound often was called a 'quid'.

Coins of more than £1 were: *A guinea (£1/1/-) *A £5 coin

Hope that helps!

-Horseyangel xxx

Answer 2

In Britain the pre-decimal coinage used in the Victorian period was Lsd (£sd).

The Lirasi, Shillings & Denari monetary system was based on a system which dated back to the British Romano period.

Unlike the Decimal system which replaced the Imperial system, it used the 12 base system. The Romans used this number base as it was easily divisible by many factors, and simplified mental arithmetic.

The Imperial system remained in use until 1971 when it was replaced with the decimal system.

The system was made up of the following coins:

• Crown
• Florin
• Shilling
• Six Pence
• Three pence
• Penny
• Half penny
• Farthing

Unsing the Imperial money system, £1 Was equal to :

• 12 Crowns
• 20 Shillings
• 240 Pennies

Other equalities were

• 5 Shillings = 1 Crown
• 12 pence = 1 Shilling
• 2 Shillings = Florin
• 2 Half penny = 1 Penny
• 4 Farthings = 1 Penny

The Imperial coinage system gave rise to many coloquial nicknames.

Technically not a coin but a paper money, the "Fiver" was a Five pound note (£5).

The "Quid" was a one Pound note, and it's name was thought to have been derived from the saying "Quid Pro Quo", which means "This for that." or "Something for something (else) " in Latin.

The Shilling is the name derived from the AngloSaxon Schilling, which was deemed to be the price of a cow or a sheep. It was known as a 'Bob' and had no equivalen plural i.e. "I have ten bob", "I have a bob", the plural "Bobs" was never used.

Nobody actually knows why this coin was called a 'Bob' Some think that it may have originated from from 'Bawbee', which was 16-19th century slang for a half-penny, others In the 18th century 'bobstick' was a shillings-worth of gin, but many other theories exist.

A florin was equal to 2 shillings and as previously explained a Shilling was nicknamed a "Bob". Therefore the Florin was termed a "Two Bob bit".

A sixpence was known as a "Tanner", and half a sixpence was a "Thrupenny bit".

Half pennies were concatenated into Ha'pennies (Hay pennies).