# Please explain the coins used in UK. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 29, 2006, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634 "2006-09-29T18:04:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/41 "2006-09-30T23:26:51Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Different sizes is inconvenient. The smaller bills insist on getting lost among the larger ones in your billfold. [/QUOTE] Australian notes also differ in size (as well as colour) and I just put mine in my wallet according to size - smallest at the front. I find it easier to see how much money I have on me. Or don’t have, which is generally the case. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/42 "2006-09-30T23:33:18Z")
[QUOTE=yabob] Different sizes is inconvenient. The smaller bills insist on getting lost among the larger ones in your billfold. [/QUOTE] They don’t just get bigger as the amount increases here. A £20 note is taller than a £10 note, but it’s also shorter. So with a pile of assorted notes the twenties will stick out the top and the tenners out the side. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/43 "2006-09-30T23:34:42Z")
In all my travels, I do believe that the US is unusual in having same-size notes/bills. Apart from the convenience to the sighted, the best other reason I can think of for having different dimensions is to benefit blind people - and I do recall the Aussies have gone one step further by having Braille on their notes too. Fair dinkum. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/44 "2006-09-30T23:43:10Z")
[QUOTE=jabiru] When did they change the shape of the 20p coin? When I was last in the UK it was round and confused the heck outta me because the 10p coin was larger than the 20p. [/QUOTE] The 20p piece has always been a rounded heptagon, like the 50p but smaller. It is not lierally heptagonal, it has to be a curve of constant width to work in vending machines. > [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > hey don’t just get bigger as the amount increases here. A £20 note is taller than a £10 note, but it’s also shorter. So with a pile of assorted notes the twenties will stick out the top and the tenners out the side. No, they have the same aspect ratio, they just get bigger, so I suppose it is possible to “lose” a £5 behind a tenner. Never happened to me though 😉 . The Swiss have IMO a nice solution in which the notes are all the same height but get wider as the values increase. ---
**Author:** ![Contrapuntal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e274bd/32.png) [@Contrapuntal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Contrapuntal)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/45 "2006-09-30T23:53:43Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Not anymore. Some of our notes have gotten a rather ugly peach hue recently. The old greenbacks are being tarted up like $2 whores in Reno. [/QUOTE] As long as you define Reno as “all land within it’s boundaries, and all land that touches said boundaries.” ---
**Author:** ![jabiru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/bbce88/32.png) [@jabiru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jabiru)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2006, 11:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/46 "2006-09-30T23:54:20Z")
[QUOTE=Usram] The 20p piece has always been a rounded heptagon, like the 50p but smaller. It is not lierally heptagonal, it has to be a curve of constant width to work in vending machines. [/QUOTE] I must have _really_ been suffering from jet lag because my (obviously faulty) recollection is that they were both round and that the 10p coin was the same size as our 20c and your 20p the same as our 10c coin. I do recall getting several dubious looks from sales assistants for tendering the wrong change. ---
**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 1, 2006, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/47 "2006-10-01T00:06:21Z")
[QUOTE=jabiru] I must have _really_ been suffering from jet lag because my (obviously faulty) recollection is that they were both round and that the 10p coin was the same size as our 20c and your 20p the same as our 10c coin. I do recall getting several dubious looks from sales assistants for tendering the wrong change. [/QUOTE] Before the conversion to decimal currency, the sixpence, shilling and two shilling (florin) coins were exactly the same size in the UK and Australia. After decimal currency, in Australia the new 5c, 10c and 20c coins were the same sizes (respectively), and the the UK the new 5p and 10p coins were the same size as shillings and florins, respectively, because they had the same value. They remain he same size n Australia, but the the UK they were later replaced by much smaller 5p and 10p coins – I’m not ure exactly when this happened – and the older 5p and 10p coins that wre he same size as Australian 10c and 20c coins have disappeared from circulation. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/48 "2006-10-01T07:35:55Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] I do recall the Aussies have gone one step further by having Braille on their notes too. Fair dinkum. [/QUOTE] The Italians had braille on some of their pre-Euro coins. And by all accounts, it was useless because it was far too small, and any blind person could identify the coins without it anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/49 "2006-10-01T09:44:37Z")
[QUOTE=jabiru] Australian notes also differ in size (as well as colour) and I just put mine in my wallet according to size - smallest at the front. I find it easier to see how much money I have on me. Or don’t have, which is generally the case. [/QUOTE] Ozzies have plastic notes too don’t they? The Northern Bank in NI was bought up by the National Austrailia Bank (then sold again after a raid on the pension money IIRC) but in that short time we got plastic fivers, with the space shuttle on them! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/50 "2006-10-01T11:01:31Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] Unlike in the US, some of the coins have proper individual value, [/quote] I don’t understand this. All of our coins have individual values. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/51 "2006-10-01T11:20:33Z")
…and welcome to the pre-decimal world of English coins before 1971! When I was a lad, there were 12 old pennies to the shilling, and 20 shillings to the old pound. A guinea was worth just over an old pound, and we also had: half-crown (eight to a pound) sixpence (two to a shilling) threepenny bit (four to a shilling) half-penny (two to an old penny) farthing (four to an old penny) So there were 960 farthings in an old pound! Some coin pictures here: > **[Did You Know? - Coins and Decimalisation](http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_coinage.htm)** > > Did You Know? Currency Decimalisation and Scottish Coinage ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 12:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/52 "2006-10-01T12:33:33Z")
[QUOTE=Subway Prophet] The British pound is currently worth about 1.8 US dollars. [/QUOTE] …on the currency markets. In terms of purchasing power, it’s worth about $1.50, less than that for some things. ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/53 "2006-10-01T12:37:43Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] I don’t understand this. All of our coins have individual values. [/QUOTE] I think he meant that they’re actually _worth something_… whereas in the US, the most valuable coin you regularly encounter is a quarter, which is worth pretty much nothing. Here in the UK, the largest common coin is the 2 pound coin, which is worth nearly $4, so you can’t just empty your pockets of change and assume it’s not “proper” money. ---
**Author:** ![Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/73ab20/32.png) [@Alive\_At\_Both\_Ends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alive_At_Both_Ends)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 3:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/54 "2006-10-01T15:37:50Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] The Italians had braille on some of their pre-Euro coins. And by all accounts, it was useless because it was far too small, and any blind person could identify the coins without it anyway. [/QUOTE] Dutch pre-Euro notes had embossed dots on the paper for the benefit of the blind. It wasn’t braille, just one dot for the least valuable note, two for the next most valuable, and so on. [QUOTE=glee] When I was a lad, there were 12 old pennies to the shilling, and 20 shillings to the old pound. A guinea was worth just over an old pound, and we also had: (snip) [/QUOTE] Just to clarify - we didn’t have guinea coins (at least, not since about 1815 or so) - it was just a name for that amount of money, 21 shillings. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/55 "2006-10-01T15:45:55Z")
[QUOTE=Monty] I don’t understand this. All of our coins have individual values. [/QUOTE] Well of course, but I said “proper” individual value. It’s an amorphous term, I concede, but realistically, what can you buy for a quarter? Whereas a 50p, £1 or £2 can buy actual useful items - e.g 50p will get a candy bar or bag of potato chips, £1 will get a can of beer, and £2 will get a microwave meal. ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/56 "2006-10-01T16:34:07Z")
[QUOTE=Alive At Both Ends] Dutch pre-Euro notes had embossed dots on the paper for the benefit of the blind. It wasn’t braille, just one dot for the least valuable note, two for the next most valuable, and so on. Just to clarify - we didn’t have guinea coins (at least, not since about 1815 or so) - it was just a name for that amount of money, 21 shillings. [/QUOTE] I could be wrong here but don’t we still mint Golden Guineas every year ---
**Author:** ![chowder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/977dab/32.png) [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/57 "2006-10-01T16:35:15Z")
[QUOTE=chowder] I could be wrong here but don’t we still mint Golden Guineas every year [/QUOTE] :smack: :smack: fool you’re thinking of Sovs :smack: :smack: ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/58 "2006-10-01T16:49:02Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] £2 will get a microwave meal. [/QUOTE] Tesco Value lasagne. Yum. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/59 "2006-10-01T16:52:04Z")
[QUOTE=GorillaMan] Tesco Value lasagne. Yum. [/QUOTE] In this case I refer to Sainsbury’s non-Basics Italian range chicken lasagne for £1.99. Better than that Value nonsense. Probably. Well, I’ve never tried it so I don’t know what I’m talking about. But the Value packaging puts me off. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2006, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634/60 "2006-10-01T16:56:52Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] In this case I refer to Sainsbury’s non-Basics Italian range chicken lasagne for £1.99. Better than that Value nonsense. [/QUOTE] Being as I am, I had to go and find out…86p for the Value ‘lasagne’. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/please-explain-the-coins-used-in-uk/374634.md?page=4)