# British Money **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 26, 2009, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231 "2009-10-26T22:23:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Meurglys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/258eb7/32.png) [@Meurglys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meurglys)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/81 "2009-10-28T13:07:28Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Nowadays, the only widely circulating coins are: > 1p > 2p > 5p > 10p > 20p (introduced in 1982 to fill the gap between 10p and 50p) > 50p > £1 (introduced in 1983 to replace the £1 note) > \*\*£2 (everyday issue introduced in 1997 - before that there were occasional special issues) > \*\* > As mentioned above, commemorative £5 coins are issued each year (or most years), but are hardly ever seen in circulation. > > Banknotes are £5, £10, £20 and the rarely seen (and not very popular with shops) £50. Bolding mine. I’d have to rummage around at home to be absolutely certain, but the occasional special issues of £2 coins were a larger size than the regular £2 coins that were introduced later… ---
**Author:** ![Yssy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@Yssy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yssy)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/82 "2009-10-28T13:26:42Z")
> [@Colophon](#): > > Banknotes are £5, £10, £20 and the rarely seen (and not very popular with shops) £50. Sorry about this but… …in Scotland we still use £1 notes… although they are getting rarer Yssy ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/83 "2009-10-28T13:31:05Z")
> [@Meurglys](#): > > Bolding mine. > I’d have to rummage around at home to be absolutely certain, but the occasional special issues of £2 coins were a larger size than the regular £2 coins that were introduced later… Yes they were. Big chunky gold-coloured things like oversized pound coins, totally unlike the bicolour ones we have now. **Yssy** - yes, sorry, in my parochial way I was referring to English notes. Scottish (and Northern Irish) banks also issue £100 notes - are they seen often? ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/84 "2009-10-28T13:38:48Z")
> [@Yssy](#): > > Sorry about this but… > …in Scotland we still use £1 notes… > > although they are getting rarer You do? I was wondering about that and tried to check on the Interwebs and came to the conclusion that no bank prints them anymore. Had I known there are no new ones I should have tried to get one to keep as a souvenir when I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/85 "2009-10-28T13:50:49Z")
Although we no longer have our own one pound notes in England, ‘notes’ as a slang term persists (e.g. “I can’t believe the plumber wanted fifty notes to fix that dripping tap!”) ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/86 "2009-10-28T14:11:52Z")
> [@Floater](#): > > You do? I was wondering about that and tried to check on the Interwebs and came to the conclusion that no bank prints them anymore. Had I known there are no new ones I should have tried to get one to keep as a souvenir when I was in Scotland a couple of weeks ago. No banks print them, but they’re still around. I have one issued by RBS in 1999 in my wallet. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/87 "2009-10-28T14:18:18Z")
> [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](#): > > No banks print them, but they’re still around. I have one issued by RBS in 1999 in my wallet. [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Banknotes_of_Scotland#Scotland) says that RBS still prints £1 notes. It’s the only one of the three Scottish note-issuing banks that does. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/88 "2009-10-28T17:48:39Z")
> [@chowder](#): > > And why do Americans refer to a cent as a penny? > > We don’t refer to our pennies as cents. Here’s your answer –\> > [@Mangetout](#): > > To elaborate - it’s specifically the value plural. > > Pennies is the object plural - a jar of pennies. If there are thirty pennies in the jar, the value is thirty pence. “Cent” is the value. “Penny” is the name of the coin worth 1 cent. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/89 "2009-10-28T20:22:33Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Here’s your answer –\> > > “Cent” is the value. “Penny” is the name of the coin worth 1 cent. A pedant would say that the name of the (American) coin is the cent or one-cent piece, and that the byname, nickname, or slang term for the cent is the penny. But for everyday use ypu’re proably correct. The coin valued at 0.01 pound is the penny, and the term cent in Britain is merely a metric prefix. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/90 "2009-10-28T20:37:35Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > A pedant would say that the name of the (American) coin is the cent or one-cent piece, and that the byname, nickname, or slang term for the cent is the penny. I’d argue that that pedant doesn’t have clear-cut case. I can’t recall anyone ever referring to the coin as anything but “penny.” At some point, a nickname stops being a nickname, if it’s the only name ever used or its massively overwhelms minor, occasional uses of an official name. In this case, even the Treasury’s [website](http://www.treas.gov/education/faq/coins/denominations.shtml) says that the Treasury often bows to the popular usage. I think this is good evidence that the “nickname” has become the “name” and the “official name” has become something like specialized jargon or cant. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/91 "2009-10-28T21:22:38Z")
I just checked with specimens of the three lowest denomination coins used in the US, and they told me that their names were “ONE CENT”, “FIVE CENTS” and “ONE DIME”, respectively. Not a mention of the word “penny”, “pennies” or “pence” on them at all. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/92 "2009-10-28T21:25:46Z")
Did they tell you that those were their names or that those were their denominations? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/93 "2009-10-28T21:43:11Z")
> [@acsenray](#): > > Did they tell you that those were their names or that those were their denominations? Why would their denomination not also be their name? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/94 "2009-10-28T21:57:54Z")
Why isn’t blue called green? Language is arbitrary in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 10:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/95 "2009-10-28T22:25:24Z")
As an interested citizen of the euro zone, I have to admit that I’m totally confused by the old British coin jumble. You Brits must have been very good in mental arithmetics… (anyway, it was a good every day training) ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/96 "2009-10-28T22:37:50Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > As an interested citizen of the euro zone, I have to admit that I’m totally confused by the old British coin jumble. You Brits must have been very good in mental arithmetics.. (anyway, it was a good every day training) You would use a “[ready-reckoner](http://www.mainprize.org.uk/2009/01/12/ready-reckoner/)” which was a book with which you could calculate multiples of the coinage. So, for instance, if you wanted to know what seven times three shillings and ninepence was, you just turned to the appropriate page for the answer. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/97 "2009-10-28T22:41:36Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > As an interested citizen of the euro zone, I have to admit that I’m totally confused by the old British coin jumble. You Brits must have been very good in mental arithmetics.. (anyway, it was a good every day training) I agree. I’m _just_ old enough to remember seeing pre-decimal currency in use, but not old enough to have actively used it - I understand there were books called ‘ready reckoners’ which contained tables to assist with the handling of the various subunits of non-decimal currency. ---
**Author:** ![Rayne\_Man](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/df705f/32.png) [@Rayne\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rayne_Man)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 10:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/98 "2009-10-28T22:43:17Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I agree. I’m _just_ old enough to remember seeing pre-decimal currency in use, but not old enough to have actively used it - I understand there were books called ‘ready reckoners’ which contained tables to assist with the handling of the various subunits of non-decimal currency. See my post (and link) above! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/99 "2009-10-28T23:59:12Z")
Yes, I started composing it before yours was there - but I was interrupted. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 8:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231/100 "2009-10-29T08:06:11Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I just checked with specimens of the three lowest denomination coins used in the US, and they told me that their names were “ONE CENT”, “FIVE CENTS” and “ONE DIME”, respectively. Not a mention of the word “penny”, “pennies” or “pence” on them at all. Exactly. If an American purchased an item for $10 and 10 cents the vendor wouldn’t say “That’s ten dollars and ten pence please”,they’d ask for ten dollars and ten cents [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/british-money/515231.md?page=6)