3 ms·

An Infographic for Understanding Old British Money

3 points by Vox_Leone 4y ago

Vox_Leone 4y ago
When starting to write a conversion code for pre-decimal British pound, I felt I needed a visual guide to make composing on the computer more comfortable; something I could look at as I typed. I started sketching a diagram so I could keep the subject matter in perspective. I scoured the internet looking for a figure that would look similar and couldn't find it. After some time working on LibreOffice Draw I had the infographic ready, which I share in this post. I thought it could be interesting and useful for Anglophiles, students, travelers, world citizens and the curious minds in general. (*) Edited for corrections
- Normille 4y ago
  Another oddity is that, while the old pre-decimal system was mostly based around multiples os 12: 1/4d [farthing] 1/2d [ha'penny] 2d [tuppence] 3d [thruppence] 6d [sixpence] 12d [shilling] 240d [pound] ...and the new decimal system [obviously!] based around tens, some of the old coins retained their nicknames, post decimalisation, even though their values had changed. So, the new 5p was universally referred to as a shilling [and was still = 1/20th of the new pound] and the new 10p universally referred to as 'two-bob'. I'm just old enough to have been starting primary school about the time decimalisation was introduced. So I can remember having lessons in how to count with the new money --although, oddly enough, I have no memory whatsoever of ever having counted pre-decimal money and having to 'un-learn' that.
pmdulaney 4y ago
This is wonderful! So helpful for understanding older British novels. I love that "d" stands for denarius -- even though in the NT it represents a much larger sum; viz., an entire day's wages.
- Vox_Leone 4y ago
  >>I love that "d" stands for denarius - Yes. It inherits the Roman system, (re)introduced by Charlemagne as the Carolingian system[0] from which the Pound descends directly (not meant to lecture you). I'm glad that it is useful. Thanks! I wrote a blog post in Portuguese about it[1] (case you want to try). I'm fracturing the url to prove my good faith. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_monetary_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_monetary_system [1]hxxps://voxleone.com/2022/08/10/um-infografico-para-entender-o-velho-dinheiro-ingles-definitivamente/

3 points by Vox_Leone 4y ago

When starting to write a conversion code for pre-decimal British pound, I felt I needed a visual guide to make composing on the computer more comfortable; something I could look at as I typed. I started sketching a diagram so I could keep the subject matter in perspective. I scoured the internet looking for a figure that would look similar and couldn't find it. After some time working on LibreOffice Draw I had the infographic ready, which I share in this post. I thought it could be interesting and useful for Anglophiles, students, travelers, world citizens and the curious minds in general. (*) Edited for corrections

Normille 4y ago
Another oddity is that, while the old pre-decimal system was mostly based around multiples os 12: 1/4d [farthing] 1/2d [ha'penny] 2d [tuppence] 3d [thruppence] 6d [sixpence] 12d [shilling] 240d [pound] ...and the new decimal system [obviously!] based around tens, some of the old coins retained their nicknames, post decimalisation, even though their values had changed. So, the new 5p was universally referred to as a shilling [and was still = 1/20th of the new pound] and the new 10p universally referred to as 'two-bob'. I'm just old enough to have been starting primary school about the time decimalisation was introduced. So I can remember having lessons in how to count with the new money --although, oddly enough, I have no memory whatsoever of ever having counted pre-decimal money and having to 'un-learn' that.

pmdulaney 4y ago

This is wonderful! So helpful for understanding older British novels. I love that "d" stands for denarius -- even though in the NT it represents a much larger sum; viz., an entire day's wages.

Vox_Leone 4y ago
>>I love that "d" stands for denarius - Yes. It inherits the Roman system, (re)introduced by Charlemagne as the Carolingian system[0] from which the Pound descends directly (not meant to lecture you). I'm glad that it is useful. Thanks! I wrote a blog post in Portuguese about it[1] (case you want to try). I'm fracturing the url to prove my good faith. [0]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_monetary_system https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carolingian_monetary_system [1]hxxps://voxleone.com/2022/08/10/um-infografico-para-entender-o-velho-dinheiro-ingles-definitivamente/