Coins of the pound sterling
Current coins
Decimal coinage was adopted as the official currency of the UK on February 15, 1971.
- One Penny (£0.01), 1971-
- Two Pence (£0.02), 1971-
- Five Pence (£0.05), 1968-1990 and 1990-
- Ten Pence (£0.10), 1992
- Twenty Pence (£0.20), 1982-
- Fifty Pence (£0.50), 1969-1997 and 1997-
- One Pound, 1983-
- Two Pound (£2.00), 1986-
- Five Pound (£5.00), 1990-
some things that need fixing:
- there is no £5 coin in common circulation.
- The 10p coin has been around since decimalization.
- It's worth mentioning that the 1 and 2 shilling coins were carried across as the 5p and 10p, until the sizes were changed for both coins in the 1990s.
- do we really need a page for each coin? Euro coins has (superb) pictures all on one page.
- I heard that decimalization was a condition set by the EU for entry. switching to the metric system too.
Demonetized Coins
- Half Penny (£0.005), 1971-1984
Pre-decimal system
£1 = 20 shillings.
1 shilling = 12 pence. There were 240 pence in a pound. As the symbol, £, for the pound is derived from the Latin pound the libra so the old abbreviation for the penny, d, was derived from the Roman denarius. The shilling was denoted either by the letter s or by the solidus (slash). The English penny was derived from a small silver coin minted by Charlemagne which was in general circulation in Europe during the middle ages.
- I'll need to check with someone of the Older Generation ;) but I think the / was a seperator, not an abbrevation. I've seen:
- 5/6 for 5 shillings & sixpence
- 5/- for 5 shillings only, with the dash to stand for zero pennies.
- Half Crown (2/6), 1816-1969
- Florin (2/-), 1849-1993, as old Ten Pence
- Shilling (1/-), 1816-1990, as old Five Pence
- Sixpence (6d), 1816-1980
- Threepence (3d), 1937-1971
- Penny (1d), 1860-1971
- Halfpenny (0.5d), 1860-1969
- Farthing (0.25d), 1860-1960