To clarify this, the value of the pound remained the same after decimalisation in 1971. The shilling (as a unit of currency, as opposed to the coin) was abolished and the penny was revalued from 1/240th of a pound to 1/100th of a pound. Until the 90s the new value of the penny was known as a ‘new penny’ and that was stamped on coins.
The old 1 shilling and 2 shilling (aka a florin) coins remained in circulation until the 1990s. They were the same size and value as the new 5 new pence coin and 10 new pence coin, and were used interchangeably. That is why people continued to talk about shillings after 1971.
In the 1990s smaller 5p and 10p coins were brought in and the old shilling and florin coins were withdrawn.
Were they actively taken out of circulation by some law stating something like “from so-and-so date these coins are no longer valid” or did the use of them just peter out as they got sparser and sparser?
The coins changed size - from the old LSD sizes to much smaller (and psychologically representative of their current value, IMO), so the pre-decimal coins mixed up with the decimal coins of the same size and value, were removed from circulation gradually (by the banks, I think). Not sure when they ceased to be legal tender, though.
You were warned in advance that the coins would not be valid after a specific date. It happened in 1990 for the old 5 (new) pence and shilling coins, and in 1993 or 1994 for 10p / florin coins.
Or to make it even more interesting, just say that while in Hanoi, you and your girlfriend were in bed with over a million Vietnamese dong. Then refuse to explain any further.
The crown, which continues existence as the occasional commemorative 25p coin, was approximately the size and shape of the old American silver dollar (Morgan/Peace/Eisenhower dollar coin, not the Suzie/Sackie “fat quarter” size).
It gets even worse, though, than you relate: “maundy money” – silver 1d, 2d, 3d, and 4d coins issued in small quantities for the King or Queen to hand out on Maundy Thursday, symbolic of the royal largesse given in Christ’s name and all that) were always legal tender currency, though of course they were worth far more as presentation pieces than their face value. The 4d coin preserves the second-oldest English coin, the groat, otherwise long since discontinued.
And during Victorian times, there were half-, third-, and quarter-farthings issued for various colonies (Ceylon is what comes quickly to mind, though no doubt there were others). There was also a three-halfpence coin for India, for reasons that escape me.
Sovereigns were coined in a variety of places, including one or two South Africa cities, Sydney, and Ottawa and were valid currency throughout the British Empire (including the Dominions), I presume until the 1931 Statute of Westminster.
As others have said, a shilling was always worth the same amount: 1/20th of a pound, which is equal to 5p (or 12d, before 1971).
The only denomination that changed its value, if you like, was the penny: one new penny is worth 2.4 old pence. Shillings, as noted above, were identical to 5p coins before the 5p coins were shrunk in 1990. When I was at school in the 1980s it was not uncommon to have shillings dating from the 1940s in your pocket. I’m sure I remember finding shillings from the 1930s or even 1920s, too, although these were 50% silver, so tended to be removed from circulation.
Until the late 1950s, in India the rupee was divided into 16 annas, and each anna into 12 pies. The exchange rate was fixed at 1 rupee to 1/6 (one shilling and six pence) sterling. So (if my calculations are right) a three ha’pence coin would have been worth one anna and four pies, but any smaller multiple of a ha’penny would not convert to a whole number.
And that reminds me of another thing that I learned growing up in both England and Australia: the same amount of money was called “three ha’pence” in England and “a penny ha’penny” in Australia.
Some Brit commentators have been known to get sentimental about the half crown coin. Unfortunately, it didn’t come out even in decimalized currency like the other larger coins which were multiples of shillings.
No, she had Crowns too and half crowns were common tender. Crowns were nothing special.
I don’t know where she got them but they were very certainly guinea coins and yes, they were gold and I presume solid gold. They were worth far more than their face value of 21/-.
