English and Scottish Currency

English Currency

Until 1971, English money was denominated into pounds, shillings, and pence.

Pounds (abbreviated £ or l from the Latin “libra”) were divided into 20 shillings (abbreviated s or β from the Latin “solidus”). Each shilling was in turn divided into 12 pence (abbreviated d from the Latin “denarius”).

Pennies were further divided into halfpennies (or ha’penny) and farthings, worth ½ and ¼ of a penny, respectively.

The following examples show various ways of recording monetary values:

The purchasing power of money changed over time. See the UK National Archives’ currency converter tool to approximate how much a given amount of money would be worth today. This will tell you what a value is worth in today's pounds as well as how much this was relative to normal wages. For example, Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice's £10,000 in 1810 was worth about £465,252, but could also buy 2000 cows or 952 horses.

In addition to pennies, shillings, sovereigns, halfpennies, and farthings, additional denominations of coins were also minted at various times and places:

Of these, only the guinea was regularly used as a unit of account. In part, this was because the sovereign (the coin worth one pound exactly) was not minted between 1603 and 1817. The guinea itself was originally worth 20 shillings (one pound), but its value quickly rose based on the value of gold. Originally minted for the Royal Adventurer’s Company (the predecessor to the Royal African Company), the gold coin took its name from Guinea in Africa, the source of the gold used in the first coins. Two-guinea and five-guinea pieces were also regularly minted. Though guineas were no longer produced after 1816, they continued to be used as a unit of account for various purposes.

The mark was an additional unit of account worth 13 shillings 4 pence (2/3 of a pound). No coin was minted with its value, but it was frequently used as a measure of value up through the seventeenth century.

Scottish Currency

Until the Act of Union in 1707, Scotland had its own separate currency. Like the English currency, it was divided into pounds, shillings and pence, with the same abbreviations and relative values. In addition, the merk was a common unit of account and coin worth 13 shillings 4 pence (or 2/3 of a pound Scots). However, the pound Scots was worth much less than the English pound. Though its value fluctuated during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, from 1603 onwards the value was fixed at 12 pounds Scots to one English pound.

Though Scottish currency was no longer produced after 1707, the pound Scots continued to be used as a unit of account throughout the eighteenth century.

Additional Resources

For more information on English Currency, visit the Proceedings of the Old Bailey website.
For more information on Scottish Currency, visit the ScotlandsPeople website.