# Please explain British money to a yank... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 20, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019 "2000-05-20T01:32:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Hail\_Ants](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/dc4da7/32.png) [@Hail\_Ants](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hail_Ants)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/1 "2000-05-20T01:32:32Z")
Okay I know what a Pound is, but do these mean the same thing: Quid Shilling Guinea Crown Bob I remember reading that Australia switched from an Imperial monetary system to decimal around 1968 or so. Is Britain’s system 100 whatevers to the pound? ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/2 "2000-05-20T01:46:19Z")
The British system used to be based on 240 pennies to the pound (quid). They went to a decimal system in 1971. [Here’s](http://www2.shore.net/~mustard/britmoney.htm) a handy chart of names and values. ---
**Author:** ![Crusoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/49beb7/32.png) [@Crusoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crusoe)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/3 "2000-05-20T10:59:27Z")
Decimalisation occurred in Britain in (I think) 1973. It’s now 100 new pence (more commonly just “pence”) to the pound Sterling. ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 11:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/4 "2000-05-20T11:33:45Z")
On a related note, I can recall watching various British comedies and occasionally seeing prices listed as “4/6” or spoken as “four and six”. Similar to “a dollar fifty” in U.S. terms. What do the four and six stand for? Four pounds plus six shillings or pence, or four shillings plus six pence? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 12:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/5 "2000-05-20T12:54:39Z")
Hail Ants - You don’t really need to know about all the old terminology. Only things that matter are: A ‘quid’ is a £ (pound) There are 100 ‘pence’ (pennies)in a £ Every £ you spend is roughly equal to $1.55/$1.60, or A $ is roughly equal to 65-70 pence Don’t ask about Euro’s unless you have to ! BTW: (i think…it was 1973!) A shilling equals 5 pence A Guinea equals 21 shillings/£1.10 pence A Crown equals 2 shillings/10 pence A bob is a shilling err…hope that’s clear. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/6 "2000-05-20T12:56:54Z")
Opps, a Guinea equals 21 shillings/£1.05 pence. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 4:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/7 "2000-05-20T16:02:28Z")
Thanks, **aseymayo,** your link is very enlightening. I remember an old text adventure game that I found on an archive sight. It was pretty good, except that I had to buy things with bizzare alien coinages like “Florins” and “Half-Crowns.” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/C_K_Dexter_Haven)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/8 "2000-05-20T17:07:50Z")
London\_c says: \<\< You don’t really need to know about all the old terminology \>\> Not unless you happen to be reading a book, or watching a movie or tv show, from before 1970, say. ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/9 "2000-05-20T18:17:23Z")
CK, I guess you’re right - i assumed incorrectly that Hail Ants was carrying out a little pre-tourism research. Got to say, I didn’t know for years the respective value’s of dimes, nickels, quarters, etc and it was a little frustrating. ---
**Author:** ![aseymayo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e57/32.png) [@aseymayo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aseymayo)\ **Post date:** [May 20, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/10 "2000-05-20T19:06:07Z")
[The American-British - British-American Dictionary](http://www.peak.org/~jeremy/dictionary/dict.html) has some more in-depth information about old and new British money. Warning - this site uses (ugh) frames; click on the British-\>American link in the “Search Instructions” frame, then scroll down to the pound symbol (it’s near the top). The author of the above site says the move to decimalization began in 1968 (another site I found said Queen Elizabeth herself struck the first decimal coins in '68) and the conversion was completed by the official start date of Feb 15, 1971. He also explains the L/d/s designations (for Gilligan). ---
**Author:** ![Kipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Kipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kipper)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/11 "2000-05-21T02:28:29Z")
In the old, predecimal system: 1 pound = 20 shillings 1 shilling = 12 pence Pounds can be refered to as Quid or Reddies (pound notes used to be colored red but now are replaced by coins). 2/6 means two shillings and six pence and is refered to as half a bob or a half crown. A crown was a five shilling piece or one bob. The smallest paper currency was the 10 shilling note. A guinea was a gold coin worth 21 shillings or slightly more than one pound. Pennies are abreviated as p but some times you will see them refered to by the abreviation d, for example on old stamps. The d stands for denarius from the latin for penny. As a note of interest pennies were in medieval times minted from silver. 24O pennies weighed one pound hence the name pound and the expression pound stirling (stirling silver) for the British currency. The move to decimicialtion was officially in 1971 athough there was a transitional period. Now one pound = 100 pennies which were refered to as “New Pence” although now one now need this explanation. The shilling ceased to exist as a form of currency. ---
**Author:** ![Initial\_Entry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e9a140/32.png) [@Initial\_Entry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Initial_Entry)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/12 "2000-05-21T04:04:38Z")
Did anyone else, upon a first reading, think this thread was titled “Please explain British money to a yak…”? ---
**Author:** ![casdave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/c6cbf5/32.png) [@casdave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/casdave)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 9:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/13 "2000-05-21T09:12:37Z")
When were pound notes red? A far as I remember they have always been green. Maybe you are thinking too literally. “Reddies” should be “readies” as in ready money, cash not cheques. The old 10/- (10shilling) was a a slightly reddish brown. I used to love the old money .Those coins were far more substantial. In the days when men were men you could see them limping after running for the bus due to the change bashing round in their manly but unfortunately deep pockets, heh! ---
**Author:** ![notquitekarpov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@notquitekarpov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notquitekarpov)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/14 "2000-05-21T10:47:16Z")
Slang-wise there was also the “tanner” which I think was sixpence. Slightly off message but related there is also slang used for multiples of pounds - restricted to horse racing circles mostly - involving monkeys (£50 ?), ponies (£20 I think) et al. Does anybody know the full list - and is it the same in the USA or do you guys have your own code? ---
**Author:** ![London\_Calling](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/49beb7/32.png) [@London\_Calling](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/London_Calling)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 12:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/15 "2000-05-21T12:19:24Z")
Top of my head… A Fiver = £5 A Tenner = £10 A Score = £20 A Pony = £25 A Bullseye = £50 A One-er = £100 A Monkey = £500 A Grand = £1,000 An Archer = varies, not settled yet but usually £2,000 ---
**Author:** ![Gilligan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Gilligan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gilligan)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 12:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/16 "2000-05-21T12:30:58Z")
Some U.S. examples I can think of off the top of my head: A fin - $5 A sawbuck - $10 A C-note - $100 Thanks for “tenner”; this now makes clear a line from Jethro Tull’s _Thick as a Brick_: “…he coughed up a tenner on a premium bond win…” I never knew what the heck he was talking about. ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 5:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/17 "2000-05-21T17:30:41Z")
Also in the U.S. there’s “a grand” for $1000. “Fin”, “sawbuck”, “C-note”, and “grand” are all rather old-fashioned and cutesy tough. I can imagine hearing “grand”, although I wouldn’t use it, but I can’t imagine hearing someone today using the others. ---
**Author:** ![samclem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a9a28c/32.png) [@samclem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/samclem)\ **Post date:** [May 21, 2000, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/18 "2000-05-21T19:37:22Z")
In the US, a $20 is a double sawbuck. But, as WW said, I can’t imagine the average person using most of the terms. Once in a while, I’ll hear a “high roller” using ‘C-note’. Considering the fact that we still have a candy bar called _100 Grand_ it certainly still gets used. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/19 "2000-05-22T00:50:43Z")
From my experience with British books, the British “quid” is about equivalent in usage to the American “buck”, i.e., “can you lend me a couple quid?” as opposed to “can you lend me a couple bucks?”. Just my two, um, small units of currency. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [May 22, 2000, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019/20 "2000-05-22T08:09:11Z")
> [@](#): > > Pounds can be refered to as Quid or Reddies (pound notes used to be colored red but now are replaced by coins). Except in Scotland where we still have our old green-coloured pound notes 🙂 [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-british-money-to-a-yank/20019.md?page=2)