Okay, it’s a coin worth a pound, but is a pound coin the same thing as a Guinea?
The coin was mentioned in a recent rerun of a Midsomer Mystery, and Barnaby kidded an old geezer who was visiting his house over the holidays, that he (the old man) swallowed one of two pound coins in a Christmas pudding of some sort. Of course there was just one coin and the geezer had not swallowed it.
But Barnaby put a rigged metal detector to the geezer’s gut and caused it to go off, thus giving a false positive, startling the old man for a moment.
If the man had indeed swallowed the pound coin, would it have activated a legitimate metal detector if it were put to his belly?
The pound coin replaced £1 banknotes some twenty-ish years ago (although Scottish £1 notes are still in circulation - there’s another thread from the other day which discusses this). It is nothing directly to do with the Guinea:
As to Midsomer Murders, or metal detectors, I’ve no idea!
A guinea is an old (gold) coin worth twenty-one shillings (or 105% of a pound.)
The modern pound coin is a much more recent innovation. It’s not precious metal, but it is metal - it’s 9.5 grams of nickel/brass alloy, 70% copper, about 25% zinc and about 5% nickel. I can’t think of any reason why it wouldn’t show up on a metal detector.
Um… the last Guinea coins, the so-called “spade Guineas,” were minted in 1796. Between 1815 and 1932, the U.K. issued a gold coin valued at one pound, called the Sovereign or the Pound. Since 1957 Sovereigns have been issued not as legal tender but as investment/bullion coinage. The nickel-brass pound coin issued since 1983 replaces it as the legal tender coinage.
Given the date of the story referenced, the allusion is probably to a “Pound,” i.e., a Sovereign. Here’s a quick history of the coin (from, of all places, an Australian stamp dealer): http://www.australianstamp.com/Coin-web/history/sovhist.htm
As stated, a guinea was equal to one pound plus one shilling (i.e. 21 shillings). Certain prices (e.g. houses, horses, suits) were always quoted in guineas.
Horses and horse race prizes still are in England. And the big auction houses did until very recently - they might even still do it. Mad but traditional. What can you do?
My family actually has a “Christmas sixpence” specifically for the pudding.
Apart from my late grandmother, who was from the Caribbean and put about a dozen little silver animals in hers, that would stab most of the family in the gums during the course of the meal.
I’d like to say that Midsomer is supposed to be a charming English village, yet its murder rate per head of population probably makes it the most dangerous place in the world. :rolleyes:
Actually, Midsomer is a fictional English county full of picturesque villiages.
Every episode is set in a different village in Midsomer. One is set in Midsommer Thisford. The next is set in Midsomer Thatville. The next is set in Midsomer Theothertown, and so on.
Not really. Midsomer Murders is a contemporary series, which has only been running since 1997 – when they say “pound” they definately mean the modern pound.
