3 ms·

If you can/could make change in the Carolingian monetary system (pre-decimalization British coinage), then you're either a cabbie, a genius, or Brian May (who I

If you can/could make change in the Carolingian monetary system (pre-decimalization British coinage), then you're either a cabbie, a genius, or Brian May (who I assume is both). 1 £ equivalents --------------- 1/135th or 4/21st 5 guineas (depended on the context) 1/27th or 20/21st 1 guineas 2/27th or 40/21st half guineas 3/27th or 60/21st third guineas 4/27th or 80/21st quarter guineas 1 sovereign = 1 pound ("quid") 2 half sovereigns 4 crowns 5 double florins 8 half crowns 10 florins 20 shillings 40 sixpences 60 fourpences 80 thruppences (threepences) 160 twopences 240 pennies 480 halfpennies 960 farthings 1920 half farthings 2880 third farthings 3840 quarter farthings The values changed in 1971. These are the ancient values.

gumby 4y ago
My grandfather (born around 1910, died 1969) used to earn extra money on week ends by going to the horse track and calculating odds for the bookies. They’d take a big bet and he would tell them how to adjust the odds and what offsetting bets to make to hedge risk. This was in guineas, pounds, shillings, farthings etc. He did all the calculations in his head. He’d only attended school through part of year 5. Not surprisingly, the one of his kids who went to uni (my dad) got two maths degrees and two EE degrees.
totetsu 4y ago
Spare a thought for those of us who grew up on the Dicsworld(mud) https://dwwiki.mooo.com/wiki/Currency https://dwwiki.mooo.com/wiki/Currency
canjobear 4y ago
One fun thing about reading Ulysses is that a lot of Leopold Bloom's interior monologue revolves around money in the old system and he does a lot of calculations in his head. You start to get a sense of what it was like. The impression I got is that it all revolves around the shilling, which seems to have been worth something like $5 around the time of the book: 1 crown = 5 shillings 1 pound = 20 shillings 1 guinea = 21 shillings 1 shilling = 12 pence Guinea is the weird one, but it has the function of allowing you to give tips. If someone charges you 3 pounds and you pay them 3 guineas then you are giving a 5% tip.

gumby 4y ago

My grandfather (born around 1910, died 1969) used to earn extra money on week ends by going to the horse track and calculating odds for the bookies. They’d take a big bet and he would tell them how to adjust the odds and what offsetting bets to make to hedge risk. This was in guineas, pounds, shillings, farthings etc. He did all the calculations in his head. He’d only attended school through part of year 5. Not surprisingly, the one of his kids who went to uni (my dad) got two maths degrees and two EE degrees.

totetsu 4y ago

Spare a thought for those of us who grew up on the Dicsworld(mud) https://dwwiki.mooo.com/wiki/Currency https://dwwiki.mooo.com/wiki/Currency

canjobear 4y ago

One fun thing about reading Ulysses is that a lot of Leopold Bloom's interior monologue revolves around money in the old system and he does a lot of calculations in his head. You start to get a sense of what it was like. The impression I got is that it all revolves around the shilling, which seems to have been worth something like $5 around the time of the book: 1 crown = 5 shillings 1 pound = 20 shillings 1 guinea = 21 shillings 1 shilling = 12 pence Guinea is the weird one, but it has the function of allowing you to give tips. If someone charges you 3 pounds and you pay them 3 guineas then you are giving a 5% tip.