Yep. And is mathematically superior. 240 is a highly composite number. Just go look at how many factors and submultiples it has. Then compare it to 100.
Offa's silver penny of the 770s predates "England" by 2 centuries. Athelstan made it the standard currency of the whole of England in the early 900s. The Normans, indeed, picked up this system and ran with it.
The pounds, shillings and pence of UK was based on the Carolingian monetary system during the reign of Charlemagne, so you are correct it was established before 800 AD.
I was 40 when we went decimal and I must say you're making the 'old money' sound a lot more complicated than it was in reality. Rather than thinking of it as the pound, the shilling and the 'penny' you should be think of it as pounds, shillings and pence. Your point about it being confusing because of ten shilling notes, two shilling pieces and five pound notes doesn't really make sense as we still have notes and coins of different values today, the same as every country? How is dividing pennies into 4 any different to the US Dollar being divided into 'quarters'? Also the 'groat' hasn't been in currency for hundreds of years, and penny pieces and two penny pieces are still collectively referred to as coppers.
This comparison doesn't really work because the dollar is the base note upon which all other value is measured. A quarter is 1/4 (.25) of a dollar, a dime is 1/10 (.1) of a dollar, a nickle is 1/50 (.05), a penny is 1/100 (.01). And that's it. Five types of currency. All other notes are multiples on the dollar and they're not even named differently, just labeled with how many dollars they're worth. So you only need to know five types of currency, all of which divide neatly into the dollar in a system of 10s easily placed into decimals. Working out the old British system, where even the smallest base coin can be divided further and the coins' worth in relation to each other is seemingly arbitrary, must've been a nightmare without some kind of calculating tool. So it's _very_ different from the American dollar system. That difference is evident even within a book I hold in my hand, _The Streets of London,_ dated 1940. The price then was listed as seven shillings, six pence. The US system doesn't need such specific naming of which types of currency are needed for purchase, because all coinage neatly adds into each other in a system based on fractions of the dollar not exceeding 1/100, so the US can use the decimal system instead ("$10.25"). We also didn't give our money a dozen different names, though presumably that's because our country isn't as old. We did once have a "haypenny" that was a carry-over from Europe (worth .005 of a dollar), but that was a stupid idea and we got rid of it for presumably the same reasons Britain got rid of their old money system.
@@AlashiaTuol I don't know if the American half-cent was ever called a "haypenny" but most likely it disappeared largely because its purchasing power became too small, and the one cent coin was reduced in size. However, I suppose the British people got used to the nicknames for their money quite easily. Although I'm an American, I'm interested in British coins, so I'm proud to be named, in a sense, after the shilling!
A decimal system based on 1 unit and 1/100 of that unit is still much simpler. Even if you do make nickle, dimes, quarters, and half dollars. 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2. Simple. One line to explain. Yours... paragraphs.
But in the modern system, we can represent fractions of a pound exactly as we need to and there is no need to worry about confusions in adding sums of money, which leads to fewer errors and less of a likelihood of financial fraud. The old pence was 1/240, or approximately 0.004, of a pound, so the old system made it harder to represent an exact fraction of a pound.
@@jmitterii2 Um, but what is a 1/3 of a dollar? or 1/6. I would write what is the 1/8 part but that once had an answer, 12 cents 5 mills. Since we don't have half penny coins, that now has no answer. But a 1/3 of an old pound is 80 pence and the 1/6 is 40 pence.
@@iordanneDiogeneslucas So are you proposing that fractions are better than decimal? I can see what you're saying with fractions being easier but what advantage is that really?
ARTexplains Science and History Probably because the US has among the largest motorway networks in the world and the money that would be used for changing speed signs and mileposts would be better spent elsewhere. I honestly think the metric system is somewhat easier to understand, but the US government isn’t exactly well-known for using its citizens’ hard-earned dollars, nickels, and pennies very wisely.
Also you are introducing the names of the coins randomly which makes it more confusing. The basic unit was the Pound, a gold coin also called a Sovereign (there was also a paper pound note and a 5 pound note) Half a pound was either a gold coin called a Half Sovereign or a paper 10 Shilling note A Quarter Pound was 5 shillings also called a crown (because there had once been a coin of that name and value) The Eighth part of the pound was a silver coin called a Half Crown with a value of 2 1/2 shillings or 2 Shillings and 6 pence. The Tenth part of the pound was a silver coin called a floren (which was the first step towards decimalization) with a value of 2 Shillings The Twentieth part of the pound was a Shilling, a silver coin with a value of 12 pence. The Fortieth part of the pound was 6 pence, a silver coin with a value of half a shilling. The Sixtieth part of the pound was 4 pence, or a groat with a value of a third of a shilling The Eightieth part of the pound was 3 pence, a silver coin with a value of a quarter of a shilling The One twentieth (1/120) part of the pound was 2 pence or a half groat with a value of a sixth of a shilling. The Two hundred and fortieth (1/240) part of the pound was a penny with a value of a twelfth of a shilling The Four hundred and eightieth (1/480) part of the pound was a Half penny with a value of 1/24 of a Shilling The Nine hundred and sixtieth (1/960) part of the pound was a Farthing with a value of 1/48 of a shilling As you can see the whole system is based around coins with (for the most part) half the value of the next large coin. It is also based on the numbers 12 and 20. Another way to understand it is by realizing that this was just a system of weights were 1 pound = 12 ounces = 240 pennyweights = 5760 grains. Thus a farthing with a weight of 6 grains was the 1/960 part of the pound. What is really interesting is asking why they needed a coin that was 1/960 of a pound the answer is that a gold sovereign (old pound coin) has a value of about 240 modern British pounds. That is to say a penny then was worth about pound today and a farthing was worth about 25 modern pence. Now you can see how the government steals by inflation.
Sixpences were called tanners, florin, 21 shillings was a guinea (which you still hear in horse racing - eg: the 2000 guineas race). Crowns were rare, but half crowns common. £3/7/2½ was pronounced three pounds seven and tuppence ha'penny. At school, we had sums like: £ s d 12 11 7½ 23 17 6 18 13 11½ ------------------ ------------------ And: divide £13/13/7½d between three people.
As an American, my brain shut off as soon as I saw the sums. Is this what the rest of the world sees when they look at our non-metric measurement system? XD
A nickname is just that. A nickname. Not everyone used all these names. The main ones were half-penny, thruppence, six-pence, nine-pence, shilling, half-crown, crown, pound and a ginueas. Simple. Never even heard of most of the others.
We've already lost a large slice of our culture with decimalisation(very nearly the pound also under Blair!) We had no choice over currency or what quantities we buy petrol etc, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I use any French measurements! English measurements are a lot simpler and make more sense to people. Surely its easier to say I'm about 5'10" than it is to say I'm 1562.5mm or whatever it would be?! I really dont know why they bother trying to force it on us? 99.9 times out of a hundred when a doctor tells a patient their weight in metric they'll be asked for it in English so why not just give it in bloody English!?
Apologising for a defunct monetary system we are forcing no one else to use? Edward is right, I agree with him on everything he said. We are out of the EU now, we should sling all of that metric rubbish into the french channel.
In old British magazines, you can see that the prices of expensive merchandise like jewelry, liquor, luxury cars, designer clothing, etc. were always advertised as "guineas" and not pounds. This designation was yet another sign of the ingrained class system, as this video points out. Pretty silly.
Interesting stuff but a little unfair in some places. You might ask why the US refers to its small coins as nickels and dimes. Remember back in the day the smaller currencies had a lot more purchasing power so being able to spend a halfpenny made some sense. Now a penny or two goes nowhere so there's talks of getting rid of coppers altogether.
240 divides by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,15,16 and 20. For as long as the pound was worth a lot, this made sense. The guinea (21s., that is 252d.) divided by 7 and 9 but not 5, 8,10 or 16. In medieval times, the penny was the unit of currency for the masses, the shilling for merchants and richer tradesmen and the pound for Kings and nobles. After considerable inflation, from the 18th century onwards, the shilling was the unit of currency for the masses, the pound or the guinea (depending on context) for the middle class and the richest used multiple guineas. Most kids had pennies. A workman's wage in 1900 was typically £1 a week and rent 2/6 (an eighth of that). The Mad Hatter's hat was advertised as half a guinea. The problems really came in the postwar period when a pound was no longer worth all that much and most people had to add the three units (£sd) in their heads on a constant basis, throwing in guineas because that's what British people did. By 1968-69, many more goods were just priced in shilling amounts or amounts ending in 11d (a penny short of a shilling) or 19/6 (sixpence short of a whole pound). An amount of two or more shillings was called "bob", not "bobs", as in "two bob", "ten bob" etc. A florin was the actual coin, rather than a customary unit. The end of the old system was announced in 1966, the last predecimal coins were dated 1967 and the first decimal coins (5p, 10p and 50p) dated 1968-69. 1969 also saw the end of the halfpenny (pron. "Haypny"), 10s note and half crown. 50 years ago, 1971 saw the universal use of decimal pricing, the 1p, 2p and short-lived 1/2p coins and the end of the old 3d, followed a few years later by the 6d. Decimalisation was reinforced in 1982-83 with new coins and the withdrawal of the 1/2p and the last pre-decimal coins (used as 5p and 10p) withdrawn in 1992. The value of the pound, which had started to plummet in 1940-41 when we were losing the war, started to crater in 1971 and by 1974-75, it was done for. Inflation was controlled only by compounding unemployment and human misery in the 80s (thanks Maggie!)- but a pound now is worth only 1/60th of its 1914 value at most, in some areas more like quarter of that.
Finally someone has said it. I find it really annoying when someone doesn't understand something so they assume its illogical, shows a failure to understand that someone else knows something you don't.
@trains and trams I never saw one after 1983 it may have been completely withdrawn by 1988 but was fast disappearing after the introduction of the coin in 1983, and as I say, I never spent a pound note again after 1983.
Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a holiday classic...until pay and prices in 1843 UK coins comes up. Then it's "down the rabbit hole" as Bob Cratchit goes shopping after collecting his wages in Shillings, gets change in Pence, and drops a Ha'penny into a beggar's cup. Ebeneezer Scrooge and the "moneyed classes" speak of Pounds, Sovereigns, Crowns, etc. American writers of the same era also had characters pay in a number of extinct coins and currency, which makes it difficult to gauge how rich or poor they were at the time. (Then there are books and films set in foreign settings that use Lac Dollars, Sen, and Yuan, which makes the head spin.)
It was changed to rob the british wage earners if money to force inflation down. 10 years after decimalisation wage rises were average 20% so it worked well eh?
Not really. The reason why UK transitioned from imperial currency system to decimal currency system is because the government planned to join the EEC (precursor to today's EU). In 1973, UK joined the EEC.
The big defence for the old LSD system was that it was inflation resistant. If something went up by a shilling, there was an outcry. Now if something goes up by 5p, hardly anyone notices. A pound was a lot of money, and one could get a lot of sweets for a shilling (5p). A Mars bar (at least 4 times the size then) cost 4p (ca 2p). I remember as a kid with friends surrounding a guy with a £10 note. Never had seen one before, and a large sum of money.
@UCtyGJvhg5mVyUTA86LlG-iQ You are right, base 12 (or 24) is much more efficient factorially wise than base 10. Look up the dozenal system, two extra numbers, 9, dec and elf (with their own symbols), It works, 10 divided by three = 4
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system.
Gosh! I wonder why people always have to think up alternative nicknames for stuff given enough time... Before the introduction of the Euro, Dutch coins and notes had all kinds of unofficial names that I learned from my dad.
Trying to remember: A 5 cent coin was called a "stuiver", 10 cent coin "dubbeltje" (probably double stuiver), 25 cent coin "kwartje", a guilder "piek", a 2.5 guilder coin officially "Rijksdaalder", but unofficially "knaak", a 100 guilder note "meier, and a 1000 guilder note "rooie rug" ("red back").
Pence as an independent word for the plural of penny is mostly since 1971 D Day (D for decimal). You would have said that there are 240 pennies in the pound in a maths class pre D day. But pence did exist only as a word ending ... thus if you were asking someone to give you three one penny coins you'd have said "give me three pennies". But if you wanted value of 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d, 8d,9d, 10d or 11d you'd say either a penny, tuppence (=twopence), thruppence (=threepence), fourpence fivepence, sixpence, sevenpence , eightpence , ninepence, tenpence, or elevenpence. They would be pronounced and spelled as one word, so pence was a compound ending not usually as an isolated plural. The change was decided by the decimal currency board as it helped to distinguish old money terms from the new ones.
This only seems confusing because you are not accustomed to the system, nor familiar with pricing in a world before fiat currency led to massive price inflation. Prior to the 1950s this system was very easy and instinctive since many everyday items costed much less than a pound. For example, I have an old menu card from a pub in Ireland (which used the same system, they had a pound that was exactly identical to the one in the UK until the Euro) from the 1930s. A beer was 9d. So the thruppence was a practical coin because three of those bought a beer. An dram of whisky was 2/6 or two shillings and sixpence. So a double Bob and a sixpence or two thruppences. Until World War Two many items were priced by half a cent margins making the farthing useful until post war inflation saw prices graded by the cent. In eras where prices were in multiples of 3, 12, and 20 the system made perfect sense and was instinctive and easier then the 100 cent based pound because it made counting faster. If a price is 2/6 it can be counted faster than 12.5 which would be the American equivelance Which only became a thing because of inflation
@@WizzardJC The pounds, shillings and pence of UK was based on the Carolingian monetary system during the reign of Emperor Charlemagne. During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10.
Fascinating! Great job Tristan! :) Even though the British monetary system has straightened itself somewhat since the 1940s, their sizes are still incongruous today, with 5p being smaller than 1p and 2p coins, 50p being ginormous, 20p being specially shaped and 10p just being confusing in the light of all the others!
You would think the idea of smaller coins being worth less would have dawned on them early in the minting process... I guess they were going for a goal other than convenience!
I hate the new 5p ans 10p coins. The older ones were larger and made more sense. (except the huge 2p, that's always been the wrong size). Personally I think we could do away with the 1p and 2p coins these days.
When we first went decimal the new 5 pence coins were the size of the shilling pieces and the 10 pence were the size of the two bob bits, as these were slowly introduced several years before decimalisation. You raise a good point about the size of the different coins which, I must admit, had never occurred to me before.I can only put the current sizes down to the values of the different metals, which I suppose isn't really any different to old money when pennies were thinner, but larger in diameter than shilling pieces.
In the USA the one cent piece is the 'penny', the five cent piece is the 'nickel', the ten cent piece is the 'dime', the twenty five cent piece is the 'quarter', and the fifty cent piece is the 'halfdollar'. Those are not nicknames, but actual names.
@@ARTexplains I do not agree, I fully support my country, America, keeping the pound system. The American customary units are far more instinctive and easy to use than the metric system. All of the customary units derive from practical measures that are useful in day-to-day life.
If you are able to multiply and divide in numbers other than 15 and 10 theres nothing weird about it. Even yanks manage it with poind ounces feet and inches eh? 12 inches = 1 foot etc.
US citizen here. The most common term for the US banknote is a "dollar bill," or sometimes just "bills" when referring to an unspecified amount being handed over (so a $20 note is a "twenty dollar bill"; and a writer might describe a transaction as "handing over the bills"). "Note" is technically correct but rarely used.
The old British monetary system worked well with the imperial weights and measures, as you wouldn't get recurring numbers such as 1.33333. This you will get with the US using a decimalised monetary system alongside imperial weights an measures.
evokinevo - £ = L (Roman- Librae) Pound weight of sterling silver. S= Shilling (Roman - Solidus) D= penny/Pence (Roman- Denari) The GBP is based on the Roman system, LSD was that legacy of Roman coins and measurements that later became pounds Shillings and Penny’s/pence (£ S P) later £+P after decimalisation in 1971. English currency is the oldest currency in the world that is still in use.
Fair enough, I think from a technological perspective it is more difficult to go from animation to face to camera than the other way around, but now you're over 10K in subscribers you have access to UA-cam spaces.
Sterling Godwin totally, like even your name is Sterling, you'd be the perfect figurehead for it! Long gone will be the days where ones ability to ado mental arithmetic won't be atrophied by having all of ones numbers chewed up for them
@@rextheroyalist6389 I use to work in a casino so mental arithmetic plus its jusing 12 which has more factors than 10 10 has 10, 5, 2 and 1 12 has 12, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1
The haypenny fucking hilarious, it was called a ha'penny because lf from half was abbreviated as in hasn't. Nothing to do with hay, but it's understandable if you had only ever heard it said.
About the only thing you got right in this video is how terrible wizard money is. Dividing your base currency into sub units by primes is a terrible idea. 17 is a prime number, as is 29. Those chooses seem arbitrary and are objectively terrible. It seems JK Rowling's understanding of old money is as bad as yours. Using 12d to a shilling and 20s or 240d to a pound wasn't arbitrary. It is mathematically sensible. Both 12 and 240 are highly composite numbers and, as such, make the system incredibly powerful.
There was nothing confusing or strange about it. We used to laugh at european coinage because it was like toy money. Ours was very real indeed! It was also unique in all the world, something we were proud of. Those who got rid of it have the same mindset as the remainers of today. We should have a little more pride in what was Great Britain, and Great British back then. So sorry I cannot apologize!
1000000000% agree with you. 240 is more useful than 100. It's very effective especially to anything being sold in dozens or by twos, by threes, by fours, by fives, by sixes, etc... 100 is so weak so as base 10 compared to base 12.
You'll have to thank Tristan for the explanation! Also be sure to check out the video I made called "Transplanting Organs Through The Ages" over on his channel!
It really isn't that complicated. The basic system of twenty shillings to a pound and twelve pence to a shilling is simple enough and the denominations of coins and their nicknames are no more complicated than any other issue of currency. I was born 19 years after they replaced the pound with a reskinned US Dollar and I can understand it. Want it back even, along with all the old weights and measures.
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system.
After Brexit, wait for the call to return to shillings, to sell petrol by the gallon (different to the U.S. gallon mind), cola by the fluid ounce, and sweets by the quarter pound. Where are you Farage?
It's actually not confusing at all, I never grew up with the monetary system (as I am in my early 20s). The main advantage of the monetary system is it is divisible by 3 meaning you can split it evenly by any denomination as apposed to today's system. A penny back in the day was worth so much that it was just more efficient to clip the coin into 2 or 4 pieces, hence why we have the farthing and the half pence (also known as a halfpenny. Bob is a shilling and a crown was worth 5 shillings. The reason why this was necessary was because it was worth so much back in the day even compared to any amount in todays system.
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system. The pre-decimal era money was easier to compute because you only have to think that a pound has 20 shillings and a shilling has 12 pence. You only have to remember 20 and 12. If the price of the product you are selling costs £1 5s 3d and the customer gave you a £5 pound note you simply have to borrow one pound from £5 and convert that one pound into 20 shillings, so equation now is £4 20s minus £1 5s 3d. £4 minus £1 is easy but how about 20s minus 5s 3d? The answer is 14s 9d. Or if you would like to make it easier, just simply borrow one shilling from 20s and convert that one shilling into 12 pence so that the equation would be £4 19s 12d minus £1 5s 3d. If borrowing one shilling makes it more complicated, just think of $20 minus $5.25. It's the same thing as 20s minus 5s 3d. $0.25 is a quarter of a dollar, 3d is a quarter of a shilling.
JD notes. Except nowadays it’s anything more than £1 because you could say ‘can I have two quid?’ And it’s fine even though the smallest amount in a note is £5.
I think this systen has to do with counting dozens and scores.
Yep. And is mathematically superior.
240 is a highly composite number. Just go look at how many factors and submultiples it has. Then compare it to 100.
Our currency is actually a _lot_ older than the Norman invasion - try the 800s AD.
Offa's silver penny of the 770s predates "England" by 2 centuries. Athelstan made it the standard currency of the whole of England in the early 900s. The Normans, indeed, picked up this system and ran with it.
The pound sterling (GBP) is the oldest currency on earth that is still actually in use
The pounds, shillings and pence of UK was based on the Carolingian monetary system during the reign of Charlemagne, so you are correct it was established before 800 AD.
I was 40 when we went decimal and I must say you're making the 'old money' sound a lot more complicated than it was in reality. Rather than thinking of it as the pound, the shilling and the 'penny' you should be think of it as pounds, shillings and pence. Your point about it being confusing because of ten shilling notes, two shilling pieces and five pound notes doesn't really make sense as we still have notes and coins of different values today, the same as every country? How is dividing pennies into 4 any different to the US Dollar being divided into 'quarters'? Also the 'groat' hasn't been in currency for hundreds of years, and penny pieces and two penny pieces are still collectively referred to as coppers.
This comparison doesn't really work because the dollar is the base note upon which all other value is measured. A quarter is 1/4 (.25) of a dollar, a dime is 1/10 (.1) of a dollar, a nickle is 1/50 (.05), a penny is 1/100 (.01). And that's it. Five types of currency. All other notes are multiples on the dollar and they're not even named differently, just labeled with how many dollars they're worth. So you only need to know five types of currency, all of which divide neatly into the dollar in a system of 10s easily placed into decimals.
Working out the old British system, where even the smallest base coin can be divided further and the coins' worth in relation to each other is seemingly arbitrary, must've been a nightmare without some kind of calculating tool. So it's _very_ different from the American dollar system. That difference is evident even within a book I hold in my hand, _The Streets of London,_ dated 1940. The price then was listed as seven shillings, six pence. The US system doesn't need such specific naming of which types of currency are needed for purchase, because all coinage neatly adds into each other in a system based on fractions of the dollar not exceeding 1/100, so the US can use the decimal system instead ("$10.25").
We also didn't give our money a dozen different names, though presumably that's because our country isn't as old.
We did once have a "haypenny" that was a carry-over from Europe (worth .005 of a dollar), but that was a stupid idea and we got rid of it for presumably the same reasons Britain got rid of their old money system.
@@AlashiaTuol I don't know if the American half-cent was ever called a "haypenny" but most likely it disappeared largely because its purchasing power became too small, and the one cent coin was reduced in size.
However, I suppose the British people got used to the nicknames for their money quite easily. Although I'm an American, I'm interested in British coins, so I'm proud to be named, in a sense, after the shilling!
A decimal system based on 1 unit and 1/100 of that unit is still much simpler.
Even if you do make nickle, dimes, quarters, and half dollars. 1/20, 1/10, 1/4, 1/2.
Simple. One line to explain.
Yours... paragraphs.
But in the modern system, we can represent fractions of a pound exactly as we need to and there is no need to worry about confusions in adding sums of money, which leads to fewer errors and less of a likelihood of financial fraud. The old pence was 1/240, or approximately 0.004, of a pound, so the old system made it harder to represent an exact fraction of a pound.
@@jmitterii2 Um, but what is a 1/3 of a dollar? or 1/6. I would write what is the 1/8 part but that once had an answer, 12 cents 5 mills. Since we don't have half penny coins, that now has no answer. But a 1/3 of an old pound is 80 pence and the 1/6 is 40 pence.
It was actually easy if you were brought up with it. They decimalised when I was 14.
Easy if immersed in it like the U.S. imperial measurement system which is NONSENSE; what's better about a mile than a kilometer?
@@ARTexplains well, a mile isnt the invention of a blood thirsy revolution in France, so far better.
@@ARTexplains fractions are nicer in base 12 counting systems. 1/2, 1/3, 1/4, 1/6, 1/12 are all whole numbers in base 12 . suck it base 10
@@iordanneDiogeneslucas So are you proposing that fractions are better than decimal? I can see what you're saying with fractions being easier but what advantage is that really?
ARTexplains Science and History Probably because the US has among the largest motorway networks in the world and the money that would be used for changing speed signs and mileposts would be better spent elsewhere. I honestly think the metric system is somewhat easier to understand, but the US government isn’t exactly well-known for using its citizens’ hard-earned dollars, nickels, and pennies very wisely.
The system was not really confusing. It was just based on the customary system of weights.
Also you are introducing the names of the coins randomly which makes it more confusing.
The basic unit was the Pound, a gold coin also called a Sovereign (there was also a paper pound note and a 5 pound note)
Half a pound was either a gold coin called a Half Sovereign or a paper 10 Shilling note
A Quarter Pound was 5 shillings also called a crown (because there had once been a coin of that name and value)
The Eighth part of the pound was a silver coin called a Half Crown with a value of 2 1/2 shillings or 2 Shillings and 6 pence.
The Tenth part of the pound was a silver coin called a floren (which was the first step towards decimalization) with a value of 2 Shillings
The Twentieth part of the pound was a Shilling, a silver coin with a value of 12 pence.
The Fortieth part of the pound was 6 pence, a silver coin with a value of half a shilling.
The Sixtieth part of the pound was 4 pence, or a groat with a value of a third of a shilling
The Eightieth part of the pound was 3 pence, a silver coin with a value of a quarter of a shilling
The One twentieth (1/120) part of the pound was 2 pence or a half groat with a value of a sixth of a shilling.
The Two hundred and fortieth (1/240) part of the pound was a penny with a value of a twelfth of a shilling
The Four hundred and eightieth (1/480) part of the pound was a Half penny with a value of 1/24 of a Shilling
The Nine hundred and sixtieth (1/960) part of the pound was a Farthing with a value of 1/48 of a shilling
As you can see the whole system is based around coins with (for the most part) half the value of the next large coin. It is also based on the numbers 12 and 20. Another way to understand it is by realizing that this was just a system of weights were 1 pound = 12 ounces = 240 pennyweights = 5760 grains. Thus a farthing with a weight of 6 grains was the 1/960 part of the pound.
What is really interesting is asking why they needed a coin that was 1/960 of a pound the answer is that a gold sovereign (old pound coin) has a value of about 240 modern British pounds. That is to say a penny then was worth about pound today and a farthing was worth about 25 modern pence. Now you can see how the government steals by inflation.
Sixpences were called tanners, florin, 21 shillings was a guinea (which you still hear in horse racing - eg: the 2000 guineas race).
Crowns were rare, but half crowns common.
£3/7/2½ was pronounced three pounds seven and tuppence ha'penny.
At school, we had sums like:
£ s d
12 11 7½
23 17 6
18 13 11½
------------------
------------------
And: divide £13/13/7½d between three people.
As an American, my brain shut off as soon as I saw the sums. Is this what the rest of the world sees when they look at our non-metric measurement system? XD
£13/13/7½d divided between three people is £4 11s 2½d
£12 11s 7½d plus £23 17s 6d plus £18 13s 11½d = £55 3s 1d
A nickname is just that. A nickname. Not everyone used all these names. The main ones were half-penny, thruppence, six-pence, nine-pence, shilling, half-crown, crown, pound and a ginueas. Simple.
Never even heard of most of the others.
As the designated British person I feel the need to apologies.
Not accepted
Nope. You're still using it, aren't you? :-P
Also, when you get around fixing it, could you also do something about the Imperial System? ;-)
Yeah, like demolishing that good for nothing "imperial" system that is Rubbish and only fat people on the north Western Hemisphere use!
We've already lost a large slice of our culture with decimalisation(very nearly the pound also under Blair!) We had no choice over currency or what quantities we buy petrol etc, but it'll be a cold day in hell before I use any French measurements! English measurements are a lot simpler and make more sense to people. Surely its easier to say I'm about 5'10" than it is to say I'm 1562.5mm or whatever it would be?! I really dont know why they bother trying to force it on us? 99.9 times out of a hundred when a doctor tells a patient their weight in metric they'll be asked for it in English so why not just give it in bloody English!?
Apologising for a defunct monetary system we are forcing no one else to use? Edward is right, I agree with him on everything he said. We are out of the EU now, we should sling all of that metric rubbish into the french channel.
In old British magazines, you can see that the prices of expensive merchandise like jewelry, liquor, luxury cars, designer clothing, etc. were always advertised as "guineas" and not pounds. This designation was yet another sign of the ingrained class system, as this video points out. Pretty silly.
Yeah I remember seeing that in my dad's old collection of car magazines, good times haha
Interesting stuff but a little unfair in some places. You might ask why the US refers to its small coins as nickels and dimes. Remember back in the day the smaller currencies had a lot more purchasing power so being able to spend a halfpenny made some sense. Now a penny or two goes nowhere so there's talks of getting rid of coppers altogether.
240 divides by 2,3,4,5,6,8,10,12,15,16 and 20. For as long as the pound was worth a lot, this made sense. The guinea (21s., that is 252d.) divided by 7 and 9 but not 5, 8,10 or 16.
In medieval times, the penny was the unit of currency for the masses, the shilling for merchants and richer tradesmen and the pound for Kings and nobles. After considerable inflation, from the 18th century onwards, the shilling was the unit of currency for the masses, the pound or the guinea (depending on context) for the middle class and the richest used multiple guineas. Most kids had pennies.
A workman's wage in 1900 was typically £1 a week and rent 2/6 (an eighth of that). The Mad Hatter's hat was advertised as half a guinea.
The problems really came in the postwar period when a pound was no longer worth all that much and most people had to add the three units (£sd) in their heads on a constant basis, throwing in guineas because that's what British people did. By 1968-69, many more goods were just priced in shilling amounts or amounts ending in 11d (a penny short of a shilling) or 19/6 (sixpence short of a whole pound).
An amount of two or more shillings was called "bob", not "bobs", as in "two bob", "ten bob" etc. A florin was the actual coin, rather than a customary unit.
The end of the old system was announced in 1966, the last predecimal coins were dated 1967 and the first decimal coins (5p, 10p and 50p) dated 1968-69. 1969 also saw the end of the halfpenny (pron. "Haypny"), 10s note and half crown. 50 years ago, 1971 saw the universal use of decimal pricing, the 1p, 2p and short-lived 1/2p coins and the end of the old 3d, followed a few years later by the 6d. Decimalisation was reinforced in 1982-83 with new coins and the withdrawal of the 1/2p and the last pre-decimal coins (used as 5p and 10p) withdrawn in 1992. The value of the pound, which had started to plummet in 1940-41 when we were losing the war, started to crater in 1971 and by 1974-75, it was done for. Inflation was controlled only by compounding unemployment and human misery in the 80s (thanks Maggie!)- but a pound now is worth only 1/60th of its 1914 value at most, in some areas more like quarter of that.
Finally someone has said it. I find it really annoying when someone doesn't understand something so they assume its illogical, shows a failure to understand that someone else knows something you don't.
Pound shillings and PENCE, the cow jumped over the fence, it split it's arse on a blade of grass, pound shillings and PENCE. DOCUMENT FCO 30/ 1048.
I was born in 1980 and had to only deal with half pennies and one pound notes until the got binned.
there wasnt a pound coin since well after decimal day
Shadow Fan the pound note was withdrawn and replaced by the pound coin in 1983
@@ryan2020091 which was after decimal day
@trains and trams I never saw one after 1983 it may have been completely withdrawn by 1988 but was fast disappearing after the introduction of the coin in 1983, and as I say, I never spent a pound note again after 1983.
Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" is a holiday classic...until pay and prices in 1843 UK coins comes up. Then it's "down the rabbit hole" as Bob Cratchit goes shopping after collecting his wages in Shillings, gets change in Pence, and drops a Ha'penny into a beggar's cup. Ebeneezer Scrooge and the "moneyed classes" speak of Pounds, Sovereigns, Crowns, etc. American writers of the same era also had characters pay in a number of extinct coins and currency, which makes it difficult to gauge how rich or poor they were at the time. (Then there are books and films set in foreign settings that use Lac Dollars, Sen, and Yuan, which makes the head spin.)
Can imagine how it must have been, how confusing it was, for foreign visitors to the UK. That's a reason why it was changed.
Unless you grow up with it, it's confusing -- like the U.S. imperial measurements system. I WISH I had been taught metric growing up.
I was taught metric growing up. Thus, the US / Imperial System would be confusing for me. I have learnt some of it.
It was changed to rob the british wage earners if money to force inflation down. 10 years after decimalisation wage rises were average 20% so it worked well eh?
Not really. The reason why UK transitioned from imperial currency system to decimal currency system is because the government planned to join the EEC (precursor to today's EU). In 1973, UK joined the EEC.
The big defence for the old LSD system was that it was inflation resistant. If something went up by a shilling, there was an outcry. Now if something goes up by 5p, hardly anyone notices. A pound was a lot of money, and one could get a lot of sweets for a shilling (5p). A Mars bar (at least 4 times the size then) cost 4p (ca 2p). I remember as a kid with friends surrounding a guy with a £10 note. Never had seen one before, and a large sum of money.
@UCtyGJvhg5mVyUTA86LlG-iQ You are right, base 12 (or 24) is much more efficient factorially wise than base 10. Look up the dozenal system, two extra numbers, 9, dec and elf (with their own symbols), It works, 10 divided by three = 4
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system.
Gosh! I wonder why people always have to think up alternative nicknames for stuff given enough time... Before the introduction of the Euro, Dutch coins and notes had all kinds of unofficial names that I learned from my dad.
Trying to remember: A 5 cent coin was called a "stuiver", 10 cent coin "dubbeltje" (probably double stuiver), 25 cent coin "kwartje", a guilder "piek", a 2.5 guilder coin officially "Rijksdaalder", but unofficially "knaak", a 100 guilder note "meier, and a 1000 guilder note "rooie rug" ("red back").
Pence as an independent word for the plural of penny is mostly since 1971 D Day (D for decimal). You would have said that there are 240 pennies in the pound in a maths class pre D day. But pence did exist only as a word ending ... thus if you were asking someone to give you three one penny coins you'd have said "give me three pennies". But if you wanted value of 1d, 2d, 3d, 4d, 5d, 6d, 7d, 8d,9d, 10d or 11d you'd say either a penny, tuppence (=twopence), thruppence (=threepence), fourpence fivepence, sixpence, sevenpence , eightpence , ninepence, tenpence, or elevenpence. They would be pronounced and spelled as one word, so pence was a compound ending not usually as an isolated plural. The change was decided by the decimal currency board as it helped to distinguish old money terms from the new ones.
The nickname 'Joey' here in South Africa was 'Tickey'.
That's a good name too
Tickey the clown with a tickey. :-)
This only seems confusing because you are not accustomed to the system, nor familiar with pricing in a world before fiat currency led to massive price inflation.
Prior to the 1950s this system was very easy and instinctive since many everyday items costed much less than a pound.
For example, I have an old menu card from a pub in Ireland (which used the same system, they had a pound that was exactly identical to the one in the UK until the Euro) from the 1930s. A beer was 9d. So the thruppence was a practical coin because three of those bought a beer. An dram of whisky was 2/6 or two shillings and sixpence. So a double Bob and a sixpence or two thruppences. Until World War Two many items were priced by half a cent margins making the farthing useful until post war inflation saw prices graded by the cent. In eras where prices were in multiples of 3, 12, and 20 the system made perfect sense and was instinctive and easier then the 100 cent based pound because it made counting faster. If a price is 2/6 it can be counted faster than 12.5 which would be the American equivelance Which only became a thing because of inflation
Yeah many people forget how much decimalisation screwed us over, especially in regards to wages etc
@@WizzardJC The pounds, shillings and pence of UK was based on the Carolingian monetary system during the reign of Emperor Charlemagne. During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10.
Unless, of course, someone is sixpence short of a shilling. That doesn't mean that the are left with a tanner; it means that they're bonkers.
Fascinating! Great job Tristan! :)
Even though the British monetary system has straightened itself somewhat since the 1940s, their sizes are still incongruous today, with 5p being smaller than 1p and 2p coins, 50p being ginormous, 20p being specially shaped and 10p just being confusing in the light of all the others!
Well played England. they still found a way to be obtuse.
You would think the idea of smaller coins being worth less would have dawned on them early in the minting process... I guess they were going for a goal other than convenience!
I hate the new 5p ans 10p coins. The older ones were larger and made more sense. (except the huge 2p, that's always been the wrong size).
Personally I think we could do away with the 1p and 2p coins these days.
When we first went decimal the new 5 pence coins were the size of the shilling pieces and the 10 pence were the size of the two bob bits, as these were slowly introduced several years before decimalisation. You raise a good point about the size of the different coins which, I must admit, had never occurred to me before.I can only put the current sizes down to the values of the different metals, which I suppose isn't really any different to old money when pennies were thinner, but larger in diameter than shilling pieces.
We were DEVALUED.
In the USA the one cent piece is the 'penny', the five cent piece is the 'nickel', the ten cent piece is the 'dime', the twenty five cent piece is the 'quarter', and the fifty cent piece is the 'halfdollar'. Those are not nicknames, but actual names.
Let's just get rid of pennies
It's awesome to see you guys collaborate!
good times
"yer a borgiouse Harry" - Hagrid Marx
The 5 shilling coin also had the nickname of '5 Bob'.
Just for fun?
Who the hell is this hack?
I feel like I've come across this guy before
Haypenny is pronounced haypney or aypney
I recall calling 1 and a 1/2 pennies both; a penny 'a'penny and three 'a'pence. A pair of thruppennies was something else altogether.
I love a nice pair of thrupennies myself.
I’m the same age as J K Rowling and the old currency seemed definitely confusing. Currency in 10s and 100s makes more sense
As someone who didn't learn the metric system growing up (Thanks, America), I agree
@@ARTexplains
I do not agree, I fully support my country, America, keeping the pound system. The American customary units are far more instinctive and easy to use than the metric system. All of the customary units derive from practical measures that are useful in day-to-day life.
If you are able to multiply and divide in numbers other than 15 and 10 theres nothing weird about it. Even yanks manage it with poind ounces feet and inches eh? 12 inches = 1 foot etc.
The imperial measurement system is also wack, though. Feet and inches should be a thing of the past.
What on earth is a bill!?!?!?!? Did you mean a note???????
US citizen here. The most common term for the US banknote is a "dollar bill," or sometimes just "bills" when referring to an unspecified amount being handed over (so a $20 note is a "twenty dollar bill"; and a writer might describe a transaction as "handing over the bills"). "Note" is technically correct but rarely used.
One can say 'banknote' in British English and 'bill' in American English.
this is exactly the video i was looking for. thanks.
Six quid, and eight for the fruit bat!
There not called bills over here there called notes
i was trying to remember all the nicknames, etc as you were going along but zoned out and forgot within a minute
I love how he try words everything to make British people sound as bad as possible 😂😂
This is like every corporation and acronyms, but somehow worse.
£1 = 20s = 240p (old) = 480 halfpennies = 960 farthings
No joke! I found that coin in my house
Check out my half of this impersonation collaboration over here: ua-cam.com/video/Rd2wXiWTeQc/v-deo.html
How did people coped with this? omg thank god it changed so so confusing it was.
I live in the USA so I have some similar questions about the imperial measurement system of inches and feet
The old British monetary system worked well with the imperial weights and measures, as you wouldn't get recurring numbers such as 1.33333. This you will get with the US using a decimalised monetary system alongside imperial weights an measures.
I think knut is supposed to be pronounced can-noot
I can-noot believe it
Why does it say LSD though
Because of the names of the coins
evokinevo - £ = L (Roman- Librae) Pound weight of sterling silver. S= Shilling (Roman - Solidus)
D= penny/Pence (Roman- Denari)
The GBP is based on the Roman system, LSD was that legacy of Roman coins and measurements that later became pounds Shillings and Penny’s/pence (£ S P) later £+P after decimalisation in 1971.
English currency is the oldest currency in the world that is still in use.
Not really in Xander's style being animated but nice video nonetheless.
I tried, i really did. I just didn't have the equipment to make something to an artexplains level of quality.
Fair enough, I think from a technological perspective it is more difficult to go from animation to face to camera than the other way around, but now you're over 10K in subscribers you have access to UA-cam spaces.
The space is like 3 hours from here, and you have to do an orientation they only do once a month.
Oh wow, those spaces look like hip exclusive clubs. The nearest one is ridiculously far from me too though.
What are you on about? That's an absolutely STERLING system... get it? Cuz they're pounds sterl- yeah I'll leave now...
I like that joke Rex
Sterling Godwin thank you! :)
@@rextheroyalist6389 let's start a campaign to get back to the LSD system
Sterling Godwin totally, like even your name is Sterling, you'd be the perfect figurehead for it! Long gone will be the days where ones ability to ado mental arithmetic won't be atrophied by having all of ones numbers chewed up for them
@@rextheroyalist6389 I use to work in a casino so mental arithmetic plus its jusing 12 which has more factors than 10
10 has 10, 5, 2 and 1
12 has 12, 6, 4, 3, 2 and 1
Can't barage the Farage.
by the way americans we dont use pounds schillings and pence anymore we only use 100 Pence =£1.
That’ll be three pounds, ten shillings, four tuppence and six pennies
The haypenny fucking hilarious, it was called a ha'penny because lf from half was abbreviated as in hasn't. Nothing to do with hay, but it's understandable if you had only ever heard it said.
About the only thing you got right in this video is how terrible wizard money is. Dividing your base currency into sub units by primes is a terrible idea.
17 is a prime number, as is 29. Those chooses seem arbitrary and are objectively terrible. It seems JK Rowling's understanding of old money is as bad as yours.
Using 12d to a shilling and 20s or 240d to a pound wasn't arbitrary. It is mathematically sensible. Both 12 and 240 are highly composite numbers and, as such, make the system incredibly powerful.
I'll forward your comments along to the guy who made this video
@@ARTexplains thanks. I'd love to do a video response, but I don't have any of the equipment or skills.
There was nothing confusing or strange about it. We used to laugh at european coinage because it was like toy money. Ours was very real indeed! It was also unique in all the world, something we were proud of. Those who got rid of it have the same mindset as the remainers of today. We should have a little more pride in what was Great Britain, and Great British back then. So sorry I cannot apologize!
1000000000% agree with you. 240 is more useful than 100. It's very effective especially to anything being sold in dozens or by twos, by threes, by fours, by fives, by sixes, etc... 100 is so weak so as base 10 compared to base 12.
This is a bit over worked. It's actually fairly easy to use
It made complete sense to us.
It's intuitive, like the three seashell method in the bathroom
Wanna do one on weight measurements next? Or if you really want to enter a whole new world of brain ache try precision engineering size measurements.
Joey Tanner from full house
My head hurts haha. Thanks for the explanation!
You'll have to thank Tristan for the explanation! Also be sure to check out the video I made called "Transplanting Organs Through The Ages" over on his channel!
Thanks buddy!
It really isn't that complicated. The basic system of twenty shillings to a pound and twelve pence to a shilling is simple enough and the denominations of coins and their nicknames are no more complicated than any other issue of currency. I was born 19 years after they replaced the pound with a reskinned US Dollar and I can understand it. Want it back even, along with all the old weights and measures.
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution, so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system.
I never understood the old currency so was glad when we went decimal,so much easier.
Old money wasn't that difficult. Your explanation is abit over the top to be honest.
After Brexit, wait for the call to return to shillings, to sell petrol by the gallon (different to the U.S. gallon mind), cola by the fluid ounce, and sweets by the quarter pound. Where are you Farage?
Wouldn’t bother me if we did.
It's actually not confusing at all, I never grew up with the monetary system (as I am in my early 20s). The main advantage of the monetary system is it is divisible by 3 meaning you can split it evenly by any denomination as apposed to today's system. A penny back in the day was worth so much that it was just more efficient to clip the coin into 2 or 4 pieces, hence why we have the farthing and the half pence (also known as a halfpenny. Bob is a shilling and a crown was worth 5 shillings. The reason why this was necessary was because it was worth so much back in the day even compared to any amount in todays system.
During the pre-decimal era, a pound was equivalent to 240 pence. Under the decimal era, it's only equivalent to 100 new pence. In 1971, the government said there will be no problem when it comes to conversion because the old shilling shall be the new 5 pence and the old sixpence shall be equivalent to two and a half new pence. However, the government did not explain what is the equivalent of the old threepence, old penny and old halfpenny to the new pence. Since there's no ACTUAL equivalent for them, the government just demonetized them. This meant that the products or items that previously cost 5d, 4d, 3d, 2d, 1d including halfpenny shall be rounded up to the old sixpence (causing inflation). During the pre-decimal era, it was easier to divide one pound into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16, 20, 24, 30, 32 (7d & hafpenny), 40, 48, 60, 80, 100, 120, 240. Under the decimal era, one pound can only be divided into 2, 4, 5, 10, 25, 50, 100. It's not because 240 is bigger than 100; the main reason is the base number. 12 is more useful than 10. Imagine if a pound is equal to 120 instead of 100. You can easily divide 120 into 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 15, 16 (7d & hafpenny), 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 120. This is the reason why anything that is sold in dozens were easily priced during the pre-decimal era. It was the money used by UK during the First Industrial Revolution and Second Industrial Revolution so I don't think the people who lived during that time got confused with the pre-decimal system. The pre-decimal era money was easier to compute because you only have to think that a pound has 20 shillings and a shilling has 12 pence. You only have to remember 20 and 12. If the price of the product you are selling costs £1 5s 3d and the customer gave you a £5 pound note you simply have to borrow one pound from £5 and convert that one pound into 20 shillings, so equation now is £4 20s minus £1 5s 3d. £4 minus £1 is easy but how about 20s minus 5s 3d? The answer is 14s 9d. Or if you would like to make it easier, just simply borrow one shilling from 20s and convert that one shilling into 12 pence so that the equation would be £4 19s 12d minus £1 5s 3d. If borrowing one shilling makes it more complicated, just think of $20 minus $5.25. It's the same thing as 20s minus 5s 3d. $0.25 is a quarter of a dollar, 3d is a quarter of a shilling.
Knut nut or nute
I can-noot decide
(Mexican) ok so what the hell is a quid!?
JD notes. Except nowadays it’s anything more than £1 because you could say ‘can I have two quid?’ And it’s fine even though the smallest amount in a note is £5.
LSD you could always half it.
Why do Americans never pronounce the plural of penny correctly?
Considering that the person who did this episode is Canadian, I can’t really answer that
The only pence Americans like is Mike.
@@emmarose4234 haha, that took me a sec to get
Really enjoyed this one! :D I had the same thoughts as a kid reading Harry Potter. I also found it ridiculous.
+TetchyTact Not to mention the entire bank vault visiting trip was totally trippy
nuts?
Decimal far superior
The monetary system of old wasn't confusing at all.. It was the slang terms that confused
Zero weird about it..!
Nothing confusing about the old system in the slightest. If they went back to it would pick it up straight away with no problem.
Sure, just like I understand feet and inches and miles... doesn't make it a good system, tho :-/
It's worked perfectly well in the past and still used and works perfectly well, so yes it does.
@@Whiteshirtloosetie you are correct! That's the money used during the First and Second Industrial Revolution.
Lol lsd
Bollocks.