Remember reading in a children’s book years ago of a “hatling” described as “half a farthing”.
Celyn, we’ll be spending a little time in Glasgow, but only because that’s where we’re arriving and departing from - most of our trip will be spent in Aberdeen and various places in the Highlands. Pity, I’ve heard good things about Glasgow, but it looks like I’ll only see it in passing.
G. Odoreida, thanks for the reassurance - I wasn’t too worried about Bank of England notes, I just wanted Scottish currency in case we decide not to get our leftovers converted back into American cash. I was more worried about being able to count the money and pay for purchases without too much head scratching and asking for guidance…looks like I’ll be able to keep that to a minimum thanks to everyone who’s posted in this thread. Last thing I wanted was to hold out a handful of money and say “is this enough?”
Small detail on shorthanding British currency: the penny that was 1/240 of a pound was abbreviated d, from denarius; when decimalization went into place, the term penny was used for 1/100 of a pound and abbreviated p.
Gold star for Polycarp 
and the £ was L for librae and the shilling S, for solidii, so we rather cutely called our currency L.S.D. Strange country!
Somewhere in the distant past I was told that the origin of the word “quid” came from tobacco. Apparently pipe tobacco was twisted into a tight roll from which the smoker cut off a section which he then rubbed to a consistency suitable for filling his pipe. The interior of the section cut off was a bright golden colour and the disc of tobacco resembled a guinea piece. (A guinea was an old British gold coin worth (then) 21 shillings.) Presumably the “quid” first was used as slang for guinea and when this coin was withdrawn and replaced by the pound (although paper) the term “quid” stuck.
I seem to recall that one of my friends who served in the Royal Navy during WW2 twisted his tobacco into rolls which were flavoured with naval rum.
Further to the above I’ve now looked up QUID in Chambers Dictionary which reminds me that tobacco quids were chewed as well as smoked!
C127236 quid1
kwid, (slang) noun a pound sterling (£); (formerly) a guinea:
plural C127237 quid; or in sense of ready money (obsolete slang) C127238 quids.
C127239 not the full quid (Australian colloquial) simple-minded, dopey.
C127240 quids in (slang) in a very favourable or profitable situation.
ORIGIN: Origin obscure
C127241 quid2
kwid, noun something chewed or kept in the mouth, especially a piece of tobacco.
ORIGIN: cud
C127242 quid3
kwid, noun that which a thing is, substance.
ORIGIN: Latin, what
Illuminating debate - I had no idea that BoE banknotes were not, officially, legal tender in Scotland! Most shops in London will accept Scottish notes, but some will not for fear of forgeries. Forgers often pass off fake Scottish notes in England because English shopkeepers aren’t as aware of what they are supposed to look like and are less likely to spot the fakes.
Enjoy your trip, Kilt-wearin’ Man!
How close to worthless are they? Many people in the US have a similar attitude towards pennies- some even throw them away(not that it’s techinally legal to do so)- since they are a fairly useless currency, being only 1/100th of a dollar. What fraction of a pound are coppers? Intresting that they’re both made of copper, or are supposed to be, anyway.
Coppers are either 1p or 2p pieces, so that’s 1/100th or 1/50th of a pound. I don’t know many people that throw them away, but I won’t pick one up if I drop it or see one on the ground.
The high street banks will change coins for free providing you use specially marked bags containing a set number of coins (to make it easier to weigh them). I usually pile up the low value coins and change them every few months.
Out of interest, whereabouts in Scotland are you visiting?
I don’t have a magnet handy to check, but I believe that these days “copper” coins in the UK are made from steel with a bronze coating. In the district where I work lots of peple are too lazy/overpaid to pick up anything smaller than a 50 pence coin if they drop one :(.
BTW, Please can everyone stop calling the coins “pee”? I know it started as a way of distinguishing them from the old “denarii”, but it gets on my nerves.
everton you don’t happen to work around Canary Wharf do you?
Most people who work there (except me) are overpaid.
The Square Mile jonnyb (same difference I’m sure you’ll agree).
I found a magnet - pennies do indeed stick to it easily enough.
Why, thank you for asking. We’ll be arriving in Glasgow, but we’ll only be there long enough to drive away from the airport. We’re going to spend several days in Aberdeen and the surrounding area (including the Aboyne Highland Games), then we’ll be off to Inverness, Wick, down Loch Ness to Glencoe, then a couple of days in Edinburgh (including the Military Tattoo) and we’ll leave from Glasgow. In all, this will take 12 days. It all begins in less than 4 weeks.
My wife and I are breathless with anticipation.