Elizabethan shilling – a very modern coin

      Granger Historical Picture Archive/Alamy Stock Photo

      In 1660, King Charles II was restored to the throne after the years under Cromwell. In 1663, the first machine-produced coins were made, consigning hand-stamping to history. Coins could then be milled with great precision. Some even had the words ‘Decus and Tutamen’ cut into the edge – ‘an ornament and a shield’ – to protect them from being clipped. The gold used in these coins came from Guinea in Africa, so they became known as the first guineas. Originally, they were worth twenty silver shillings. Later, they became worth twenty-one shillings, or a pound and a shilling. Guineas are still used in some racehorse auctions, where it is possible to bid a thousand pounds and have the bid raised with the word ‘guineas’ – one thousand and fifty pounds. Charles II also issued copper coinage for the first time and tin/copper coins to help the Cornish tin industry.

      In 1797, the government issued copper pennies, though when copper became scarce, they changed to bronze around 1860. Still called ‘coppers’, bronze halfpennies, farthings and even third-farthings were issued as the 19th century went on.

      At the start of the 20th century, the currency was stable and produced by a royal mint. King Edward VII and then King George V had their image on coins ranging from a third of a farthing up to a five-pound gold coin. Over time, smaller coins began to be less useful. The ‘inflation’ of currency meant that prices went up and money was not worth as much. Farthings were dropped around 1960.

      Queen Elizabeth II began her reign in 1952 with a currency based around the number twelve, with a history stretching back to ancient Rome. When the symbols for pounds, shillings and pence were written, it was always ‘£, s and d’ – the last, as we’ve seen, for denarius. In 1970, Britain still used the halfpenny, the penny, the threepenny bit, the silver sixpence, the shilling, the florin (two-shilling piece), the half-crown (two shillings and sixpence), the crown (five shillings), the half-sovereign (ten shillings), the sovereign (twenty shillings or £1) – and the guinea of twenty-one shillings. My mother told a story of when she was a young girl and found her father asleep in an armchair. Kneeling beside him, she whispered, ‘Can I have a half-crown?’ into his ear. When there was no response, she crept around to the other side and whispered, ‘Can I have a crown?’ into that ear. There was silence for a time, then without opening his eyes, he murmured, ‘Go back to the half-crown ear.’

      In 1971, the government of Prime Minister Edward Heath formally abolished the old coin values and went to a decimal system (based on the number ten). He hoped to modernise Britain, breaking those ties to the ancient past. New coins were issued, with the five-pence piece referred to as a shilling to help with the transition. A pound was redesignated as 100 pennies, so that the 5p piece was still one-twentieth. New green one-pound notes were issued, replaced in 1983 by the first pound coins. Later, two-pound coins were issued for normal use. Some special-edition five-pound coins are produced each year and gold sovereigns are still minted. The bank notes at the time of writing are for five, ten, twenty and fifty pounds.

      It is worth noting that these are artificial systems. Whether a pound (or a dollar) has a hundred pennies or 60, 240 or even 360 is a matter of choice. We chose to keep 60 minutes in an hour, 360 degrees in a circle and 24 hours in a day. Yet some numbers are just more useful than others. 240 has 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 40, 48, 60, 80, 120 and 240 itself as factors – 20 in all. In comparison, 100 has 1, 2, 4, 5, 10, 20, 25, 50 and 100 itself – just nine factors. In that way, 240 is more useful than 100, both in trade and in teaching maths.

      The history and stability of a country can be read in its currency – and knowing the road behind can be useful in judging the road ahead. Of course, it is possible that before the 21st century comes to an end, all transactions will have become digital and coins will have gone the way of the dinosaurs. That would be a shame – there is something comforting about a handful of change clinking in a pocket – along with two thousand years of history.