• 3ntranced@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    0
    ·
    19 days ago

    Hey, American here. I watch tons of old British telly and I thought i had a good understanding of currency terms but now I’m confused. I thought a quid is just another word for a pound?

    While im here, is pence-pennies,tuppence-2 pennies, a shilling-like a dime or something,bob-just slang for pound? Plus you guys had the euro sort of wander in before brevity, it’s all so confusing.

    • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      edit-2
      19 days ago

      Tuppence is two pence, and nobody says it anymore. Shilling was twelve pence in old money. Farthing was a quarter penny. Ha’p’ny was a half penny. Bob was another word for a shilling. Crown was 60 pence, which was a quarter of a pound. Now we just have pounds and pence/pennies. It’s much simpler.

      • ✺roguetrick✺@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        18 days ago

        Base 12 is actually simpler when you’re accustomed to it. It’s easier to figure out a third in base 12. The average person wasn’t trading in a pound and the rich could give two shits.

        It’s one banana Micheal, what could it cost? Ten pounds sterling?

        • feedum_sneedson@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          English
          arrow-up
          1
          ·
          18 days ago

          What’s wild is that the guinea was one pound one shilling, but somehow also a quarter ounce of gold. £1.05 is nothing!

    • HowManyNimons@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      19 days ago

      Most of those are old-timey pre-decimal coins. You only need to know pounds (or quid) and pennies (or pence).