World Currencies / Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal) (1801 - 1971)

Currency Name	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)
System	1 Pound = 20 Shillings, 1 Shilling = 12 Pence, 1 Penny = 4 Farthings
Description	The pound sterling is the world's oldest currency still in use and which has been in continuous usage since its inception. Prior to 1971, one pound was subdivided into 20 shillings and each shilling into 12 pence, making 240 pence to the pound (hence the currency was not decimal). On 15 February 1971, the UK decimalised, replacing the shilling and penny with a single subdivision, the new penny. £1 12s 6d became £1.62½. The word "new" was omitted from coins after 1981.

Currency Name

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)

System

1 Pound = 20 Shillings, 1 Shilling = 12 Pence, 1 Penny = 4 Farthings

Description

The pound sterling is the world's oldest currency still in use and which has been in continuous usage since its inception.

Prior to 1971, one pound was subdivided into 20 shillings and each shilling into 12 pence, making 240 pence to the pound (hence the currency was not decimal).

On 15 February 1971, the UK decimalised, replacing the shilling and penny with a single subdivision, the new penny. £1 12s 6d became £1.62½. The word "new" was omitted from coins after 1981.

Coin Types in currency: Pound Sterling (pre-decimal) (39)

Coin Type	Type	From	To	Sub-types	Coins
Half Guinea	Regular Circulating	1801	1813		11
Third Guinea	Regular Circulating	1801	1813		10
Crown	Regular Circulating	1801	1965	10	45
Five Shillings	Notgeld / Emergency Money	1804	1804		1
Penny (Pre-decimal)	Regular Circulating	1806	1970	5	127
Halfpenny (Pre-decimal)	Regular Circulating	1806	1970	5	135
Farthing	Regular Circulating	1806	1956	5	136
Guinea	Regular Circulating	1813	1813		1
Halfcrown	Regular Circulating	1816	1970	15	132
Shilling	Regular Circulating	1816	1970	13	181
Sixpence	Regular Circulating	1816	1970	14	151
Maundy Fourpence (Pre-decimal)	Non-Circulating Legal Tender	1817	1970		152
Maundy Threepence (Pre-decimal)	Non-Circulating Legal Tender	1817	1970		152
Maundy Twopence (Pre-decimal)	Non-Circulating Legal Tender	1817	1970		152
Maundy Penny (Pre-decimal)	Non-Circulating Legal Tender	1817	1970	2	152
Sovereign (Pre-Decimal)	Regular Circulating	1817	1968	3	148
Half Sovereign (Pre-decimal)	Regular Circulating	1817	1953	2	100
Crown (Pattern)	Pattern	1817	1817		1
Twopence (Circulating)	Regular Circulating	1817	1848		6
Five Sovereigns (Pre-decimal)	Regular Circulating	1820	1937		11
Double Sovereign (Pre-decimal)	Regular Circulating	1820	1937		13
Third Farthing	Regular Circulating	1827	1913		12
Half Farthing	Regular Circulating	1828	1868		14
Threepence, Circulating	Regular Circulating	1834	1970	8	143
Three Halfpence	Regular Circulating	1834	1870		13
Fourpence	Regular Circulating	1836	1888		24
Quarter Farthing	Regular Circulating	1839	1868		5
Florin (Two Shillings)	Regular Circulating	1848	1970	10	117
Decade and Florin (Pattern)	Pattern	1848	1926		3
Quarter Sovereign (Pre-decimal)	Pattern	1853	1853		2
Twopence (Pattern)	Pattern	1859	1859		1
Penny (Pattern)	Pattern	1859	1894		3
Halfpenny (Pattern)	Pattern	1859	1859		2
Double Florin	Regular Circulating	1887	1890		4
Trade Dollar	Bullion	1894	1935		23
Sixpence (Pattern)	Pattern	1926	1926		1
Threepence (Pattern)	Pattern	1937	1937		3
Farthing (Pattern)	Pattern	1937	1937		1
Unsorted	Other				63

Latest coin and currency news articles about currency: Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)

The Sun Labourer lands £250,000 windfall after discovering rarest British coin ever made in his four-year-old son’s treasure chest October 25, 2016 Coinworks Australian 1920 Sovereign Sets Record Price October 1, 2012 Royal Australian Mint Two priceless coins on special public display at the Mint October 20, 2003

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal): View All News

Advertising

Royal Mint

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal): Details

Issued By	United Kingdom
From	1801
To	1971

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal): Users

	Period	From	To
Saint Helena	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1657	1971
Isle of Man	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1679	1971
New South Wales	Pound Sterling	1788	1901
United Kingdom	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1801	1971
Bahamas, British Crown Colony	Pound Sterling	1825	1966
Ceylon, British	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1825	1872
Malta, British Crown Colony	Pound Sterling	1825	1964
Falkland Islands	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1833	1971
Jersey	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1834	1971
South Australia	Pound Sterling	1836	1901
New Zealand	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1840	1935
Guernsey	Pound Sterling (1848 - 1850)	1848	1850
Guernsey	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1870	1971
Gibraltar	Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)	1898	1971
Australia	Pound Sterling	1901	1910
New Hebrides	Pound Sterling	1906	1941
Ireland	Pound Sterling	1922	1928
Malta	Pound Sterling	1964	1972

Pound Sterling (pre-decimal): Related Currencies

	Currency	From	To
Ireland, Kingdom of	Irish Pound (Kingdom of Ireland)	997	1826
Isle of Man	Manx Pound (pre-decimal)	1668	1971
Bahamas, British Crown Colony	Bahamian Pound	1806	1966
New South Wales	NSW Pound	1813	1870
Saint Helena	Saint Helena Pound (pre-decimal)	1821	1971
Guernsey	Guernsey Pound (pre-decimal)	1830	1971
New Zealand	New Zealand Pound	1840	1967
Canada	Canadian Pound	1841	1858
Jersey	Jersey Pound (pre-decimal)	1841	1971
South Australia	Adelaide Pound	1852	1853
Newfoundland	Newfoundland Pound	1854	1865
Fiji	Fijian Pound	1873	1969
Cyprus, British	Cypriot Pound (pre-decimal)	1879	1955
Falkland Islands	Falkland Islands Pound (pre-decimal)	1899	1971
British West Africa	British West African Pound	1907	1968
Australia	Australian Pound	1910	1966
Gibraltar	Gibraltar Pound (pre-decimal)	1927	1971
Ireland	Irish Pound (pre-decimal)	1928	1971
Ghana	Ghanaian Pound	1958	1965
Nigeria	Nigerian Pound	1959	1962
Southern Rhodesia	Rhodesian Pound	1964	1970
Gambia	Gambian Pound	1965	1971
Biafra	Biafran Pound	1968	1970

Information about currency: Pound Sterling (pre-decimal)