British coinage

by thewiz 7 Replies latest jw friends

  • thewiz
    thewiz

    OK you Brits, I have looked this up before, but can't remember where, and only for the "legal" terms.

    You have terms/slang for your coinage/bills that I can never seem to remember or get right.

    Can you list first the real name for denomination (lowest to highest), then the slang terms you use for that denomination, and then the American $ equivalent?

    i.e.

    what's a quid? is it the same thing as a shilling?

    bob is it a real or slang term for a denomination

    pea? etc.

    Thanks

  • Angharad
    Angharad

    A quid is £1

  • thewiz
    thewiz

    How in the hell did this get under Dating, Relationships & Sex? Guess I wasn't paying attention when I posted.

    Oh, well. Plenty of money has been used/wasted for Dating, Relationships, and Sex. Maybe it's appropriate.

  • ballistic
    ballistic

    In 1971, the British monetary system changed to decimal, so words like shilling are actually obsolete. There are still, however, a large number of terms in use for coins, notes and money in general which you could probably devote a web site to.

  • LittleToe
    LittleToe

    1p - penny
    2p - tuppence (literally two pence, or two pennies)
    5p - bob, shilling (used to be 12p, but that's decimal for you)
    £1 - quid
    £5 - fiver
    £10 - tenner, tanner

    We do also have 20p, 50p, £2, £20, £50, £100, but I can't think of any special names for those.

    Other terms such as: farthing, ha'penny, thruppenny bit, sixpence, half crown, crown, sovereign, guinea, etc. have pretty much gone.

    There used to be a ten bob note which equalled half a quid. Ten bob is still equal to half a quid (50p), but it's now just in coin form.

  • Englishman
    Englishman

    Since 1971 the system has been decimal based.

    100 pence = 1 Pound.

    Pence is shown simply as p.

    Coins come as 1p, 2p, 10p, 20p, 50p, 100p which is a one pound coin.

    Notes - pounds, shown as £, come as £5, £10, £20 and £50.

    Here's a £20 pound note out of my pocket:

    Slang terms. £1 = a quid, £5 = 5 quid or a fiver, £10 = a tenner, £20 = a pony, £500 = a monkey, £1000 = a grand.

    Englishman.

    Bring on the dancing girls!

  • ballistic
    ballistic

    Englishman - I'm sure that the 20 you borrowed from me!!!

  • thewiz
    thewiz

    are we the only place on earth that has ONLY green money?

    You all have some beautiful colorful money.

    Thanks, I printed this page and will try to memorize it.

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