Coinage in the Canon

Revised: Friday, 27-May-2005 20:24:00 MDT

[Thanks to John McGowan for this information]

POUND: (Abbreviation: L = Libra [Latin for pound], originally a pound weight of silver) Equal to 20 shillings or 240 pence

SHILLING: (Abbreviation: s = [Latin for solidus]) Equal to 1/20 L or 12 pence

PENNY: (Abbreviation: d = [Latin for denarius]: Plural = PENCE) Equal to 1/12 s or 1/240 L

Five pound, two pound, one pound and 1/2 pound (10 s) gold coins existed in 1922.
The one pound and 10 shilling coins were called a Sovereign and a Half-Sovereign respectively.
The five and two pound coins were issued on special occasions only.

The following silver coins existed in 1922:

Crown : worth 5s
Double Florin : worth 4s
Half-Crown : worth 2s 6d
Florin : worth 2s
Shilling : worth 1s
Sixpence : worth 6d
Groat (*) : worth 4d
Threepence : worth 3d
Twopence (*) : worth 2d
Penny (*) : worth 1d

(*): Issued on special occasions only (the "silver" penny is issued only on special occasions... but the regular penny existed as well)

The following bronze coins existed in 1922:

Penny : worth 1d
Halfpenny : worth 1/2 d
Farthing (#) : worth 1/4 d

(#): From "fourthing" or quartering a penny.

A Guinea has a value of 21s or 1L 1s
(NOTE: The proper abbreviation of "Libra" is a script "L" with a bar through it)
One note to COINAGE... I mention the Guinea and 1922 coins... but the Guinea only as a value... not a coin... the reason...
According the the Oxford English Dictionary:
As a COIN (not a value) the GUINEA was:

An English gold coin, not minted since 1813, first struck in 1663 with a nominal value of 20s., but from 1717 until its disappearance circulating as legal tender at the rate of 21s.

DOUBLE GUINEA: a coin equal in value to two guineas
SPADE GUINEA: a guinea of the pattern coined 1787-1800
So, while a "guinea" as a unit of money (21 s) was used in the late nineteenth century, the coin itself has little relevance to the Canon.

(It seems that professionals, such as doctors, were paid in Guineas... where as someone else doing the same work would be paid in pounds... seems a bit of a "tip" for the professional qualification)