List of British banknotes and coins

List of British banknotes and coins, with commonly used terms.

Coins

Pre-decimal

Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pence (written as 12d) in a shilling (written as 1s or 1/-) and 20 shillings in a pound, written as £1 (occasionally "L" was used instead of the pound sign, £). There were therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2 14/5.

The value of some coins fluctuated, particularly in the reigns of James I and Charles I. The value of a guinea fluctuated between 20 and 30 shillings before being fixed at 21 shillings in December 1717. These are denominations of British, or earlier English, coins – Scottish coins had different values.

Coin	Pre-decimalisation value	Post-decimalisation value	Dates of use	Notes
Mite[1]	^1⁄24d; see notes	£0.0001736; see notes	Tudor dates, back to Anglo-Saxon England, at least.	In Tudor times, mites weren't minted but were used in accounting; one mite was one twenty-fourth of a penny or one sixth of a farthing.[2] In older times, a mite could be worth half a farthing or  ^1⁄8d;[3] or about one-third of a farthing or about  ^1⁄12d[4]
Quarter farthing	^1⁄16d	£0.00026	1839–1868.	see note 1 below
Third farthing	^1⁄12d	£0.0003472	1827–1913.	see note 1 below
Half farthing	^1⁄8d	£0.00052083	1828–1868.	see note 1 below
Farthing	^1⁄4d	£0.00104167	c. 1200–1960.	The word "farthing" means "fourth part" (of a penny).
Halfpenny	^1⁄2d	£0.0021	1272–1969.	Often called a "ha'penny" (pronounced HAY-p'nee), plural halfpennies ("ha'pennies") for the coins, halfpence ("ha'pence") for the monetary amount.
Three farthings	^3⁄4d	£0.0031	1561–1582.
One penny	1d	£0.0042	757–1970.	Commonly called a "copper"; plural "pennies" for the coins, "pence" for the monetary amount
Three halfpence	1 ^1⁄2d	£0.0063	1561–1582, 1834–1870.	see note 1 below. Pronounced as "three-ha'pence"
Half groat	2d	£0.0083	1351–1662.
Twopence	2d	£0.0083	silver (inc. Maundy) 1668–current; copper 1797–1798.	Pronounced "tuppence".
Threepence	3d	£0.0125	silver 1547–1945 (and thereafter only for Maundy), nickel-brass 1937–1970.	Sometimes called "thripp'nce", "thrupp'nce", "threpp'nce" or "thripp'ny bit", "thrupp'ny bit". Referred to as a "joey" after the groat was no longer in circulation, as seen in George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying.
Groat	4d	£0.0167	silver 1279–1662, 1836–1862 (and thereafter only for Maundy).	Referred to as a "joey" after Joseph Hume, the economist and Member of Parliament until it stopped being issued in 1885.[5]
Sixpence	6d	£0.025	1547–1970; circulated from 1971 to 1980 with a value of two and a half decimal pence.	Also called "tanner", sometimes "tilbury",[6] or "joey" after the groat was no longer in circulation.
Shilling	1/-	£0.05	1502–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1990 with a value of five decimal pence.	Also called a "bob", in singular or plural.
Quarter florin or helm	1/6	£0.075	1344	Gold coin demonetized within one year. see note 2 below
Gold penny	1/8 to 2/-	£0.0833 to £0.1	1257–1265.	Gold. Undervalued for its metal content and extremely rare.
Quarter noble	1/8	£0.0833	1344–1470.
Quarter angel	2/-	£0.1	1547–1600.	Gold.
Florin or two shillings	2/-	£0.1	1848–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1993 with a value of ten decimal pence.	see note 2 below
Half crown	2/6	£0.125	1526–1969.	Sometimes known as "half a dollar" (see Crown below).
Half florin or leopard	3/-	£0.15	1344	Gold; extremely rare. see note 2 below
Half noble	3/4 to 4/2	£0.1667 to £0.2083	minted 1346–1438.	increased in value in 1464
Half angel	3/4, later 5/6	£0.1667, later £0.275	1470–1619.
Double florin	4/-	£0.2	1887–1890.	Silver. see note 2 below
Crown of the rose	4/6	£0.225	1526–1551.
Crown	5/-	£0.25	1526–1965.	Sometimes known as "a dollar" – from the 1940s when the exchange rate was four USD to the GBP.
Quarter guinea	5/3	£0.2625	1718, 1762.
Florin or double leopard	6/-	£0.3	1344.	Gold; demonetized within one year. see note 2 below
Noble	6/8, later 8/4	£0.3333, later £0.4167	1344–1464.	Increased in value in 1464.
Angel	6/8	£0.3333	1461–1643.
Half mark	6/8	£0.333	[medieval period]	A unit of account, not a coin. Convenient as it was exactly one-third of a pound.
Third guinea	7/-	£0.35	1797–1813.
Rose noble or ryal	10/-, later 15/-	£0.5, later £0.75	1464–1470, 1487, 1553–1603.	Increased in value from 1553.
Half sovereign	10/-	£0.5	1544–1553; 1603–1604; 1817–1937	A bullion coin since 1980.
Halfpound	10/-	£0.5	1559–1602; 1642–1644
Double crown	10/-	£0.5	1604–1619; 1625–1662.
Half laurel	10/-	£0.5	1619–1625.
Half unite	10/-	£0.5	1642–1643.
Half guinea	10/6	£0.525	1669–1813.
Mark	13/4	£0.667	[medieval period]	A unit of account not a coin, but widely used.
Spur ryal	15/-	£0.75	1604–1625.
Sovereign	20/-	£1	1489–1604; 1817–1937	A bullion coin since 1957.
Unite	20/-	£1	1604–1619; 1649–1662.
Laurel	20/-	£1	1619–1644?
Carolus	20/-, later 23/-	£1, later £1.15	reign of Charles I.
Broad	20/-	£1	1656.
Guinea	21/-	£1.05	1663–1799, 1813.
Rose Ryal	30/-	£1.50	1604–1625.
Two pounds	40/-	£2	1823–1937.
Two guineas or double guinea	originally 40/-, later 42/-	originally £2, later £2.10	1664–1753.	Originally known as a "forty-shilling piece"; value changed to forty-two shillings after the Proclamation of 1717 finally settled the value of a guinea.
Fifty shillings	50/-	£2.50	1656.
Triple unite	60/-	£3	1642–1644.
Five pounds	100/-	£5	1826–1990.	Gold.
Five guineas	originally 100/-, later 105/-	originally £5, later £5.25	1668–1753.	Originally known and valued as five pounds, but became five guineas when the guinea was standardised at one pound and one shilling in 1717.

Visualisation of some British currency terms before decimalisation

Notes:

• Denomination issued for use in the colonies, usually in Ceylon, Malta, and the West Indies, but normally counted as part of the British coinage.
• The medieval florin, half florin, and quarter florin were gold coins intended to circulate in Europe as well as in England and were valued at much more than the Victorian and later florin and double florin. The medieval florins were withdrawn within a year because they contained insufficient gold for their face value and thus were unacceptable to merchants.

• 

  1915 half sovereign

• 

  1560–61 halfpound, one of the first English milled coins

• 

  1740 Two guineas

Decimal

Since decimalisation on "Decimal Day" in 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. Originally the term "new pence" was used; the word "new" was dropped from the coinage in 1982. The old shilling equated to five (new) pence, and, for example, £2 10s 6d became  £2.52 ¹⁄₂. The symbol for the (old) penny, "d", was replaced by "p" (or initially sometimes "np", for new pence). Thus 72 pence can be written as £0.72 or 72p; both were commonly read as "seventy-two pee".

Post-decimalisation British coins.

Name	Value	Notes
Half penny	^1⁄2p	Sometimes written "ha'penny" (pronounced HAY-p'nee), but normally called a "half-pee"; demonetised and withdrawn from circulation in December 1984.
One penny	1p
Two pence	2p
Five pence	5p	A direct replacement for the shilling. The coin was reduced in size in 1990.
Ten pence	10p	A replacement for the florin (two shillings). The coin was reduced in size in 1992.
Twenty pence	20p	Introduced in 1982.
Twenty-five pence	25p or "crown".	A commemorative coin issued between 1972 and 1981 as a post-decimal continuation of the old crown. From 1990 it was replaced in the commemorative role by the £5 coin.
Fifty pence	50p	Introduced in 1969, just prior to decimalisation, to replace the ten shilling note ("ten bob note"). It was initially sometimes called a "ten bob bit". The coin was reduced in size in 1997.
One pound	£1	Introduced in 1983 to replace the one pound note.
Two pounds	£2	Issued as a commemorative coin from 1986 and in general circulation from 1998 (dated from 1997).
Five pounds	£5 or "crown".	Introduced in 1990 as a commemorative coin, replacing the commemorative role of the twenty-five pence coin.
Britannia, sovereign and half sovereign		Bullion coins issued to various values.
Twenty pounds	£20	Introduced in 2013 as a commemorative coin.[7]
Fifty pounds	£50	Introduced in 2015 as a commemorative coin.[8]
One hundred pounds	£100	First issued January 2015 as a commemorative coin [9]

Banknotes

Main articles: Banknotes of the pound sterling and Bank of England note issues.

Note: The description of banknotes given here relates to notes issued by the Bank of England. Three banks in Scotland and four banks in Northern Ireland also issue notes, in some or all of the denominations: £1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100.

British bank notes.

Name	Value	Circulation	Notes
Ten shilling note	10/- (£0.5)	1914 - 1970	Originally issued by the treasury in 1914. Replaced by Bank of England notes from 1928. Commonly known as "ten bob note" or "half a quid".
£1 note	£1	N Withdrawn by the Bank of England in 1988 (but still issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland), Bank of Ireland and still used in some of the Channel Islands.
£5 note	£5	in circulation	The original "large white fiver" five pound note was known as "five jacks" and replaced in 1957 by the blue £5 note. Now also known as a "fiver".
£10 note	£10	in circulation	Also known as a "tenner"
£20 note	£20	in circulation	Also known as a "score"
£50 note	£50	in circulation	Also known as a "bullseye"
£100 note	£100	in circulation	Issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks only
£1,000,000 & £100,000,000 notes	£1,000,000 and £100,000,000	N non-circulating	Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.[10]

Bank of England notes are periodically redesigned and reissued, with the old notes being withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. Each redesign is allocated a "series". Currently, the £5 and £10 notes are "series E" revised issue and the £20 and £50 notes are "series F" issue. Series F is the latest round of redesign, which commenced in March 2007. The £5 and £10 notes are to undergo this process in the near future.^[11]

References

1. Mentioned in the King James Bible: Mark 12:41-4, but referring to a European currency. http://www.medievalcoinage.com/denominations/index.htm
2. Lara E. Eakins. "Coinage". tudorhistory.org. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
3. Francis Sellon White (1827). A History of Inventions and Discoveries: Alphabetically Arranged. C. and J. Rivington, London. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
4. Samuel Maunder (1841). The Scientific and Literary Treasury; A New and Popular Encylopedia of the Belles Lettres. Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
5. "Slang Terms for Money".
6. "Money Slang".
7. "£20 Coins". The Royal Mint.
8. "£50 Coins". The Royal Mint.
9. "Buckingham Palace 2015 UK £100 Fine Silver Coin". Royal Mint. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
10. "Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes - The Role of Backing Assets". Bank of England. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
11. http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current/index.htm Current banknotes of the Bank of England

External links

• The Royal Mint - UK coins
• Bank of England: banknotes