A guinea was worth £1,1s (one pound and one shilling). This is the same as £1.05 in modern money. Because a guinea was close to a pound, putting prices in guineas made the price seem less. A price of 39 guineas might look like "about £39".
However, since British currency was decimalised on 15 th February 1971, the Guinea has no longer been used as legal tender. Nevertheless, the term is still used in certain circles such as horse racing to describe values equivalent to one pound and one shilling, or £1.05 in modern currency.
In 1717 Great Britain adopted the gold standard, at a rate of one guinea to 129.438 grains (8.38 g, 0.27 ozt) of crown gold, which was 22 carat gold, and a royal proclamation in December of the same year fixed the value of the guinea at 21 shillings sterling.
A 'bob' was the slang word for a Shilling, which was worth 12 old pennies. Following decimilisation in 1971, a Shilling was worth 5 new pence. The old 'ten bob note' (10 shillings) was the equivalent of 5 Florins, or 4 Half Crowns, or 2 Crowns. After decimilisation, it was worth 50p.
The British florin, or two-shilling piece (2/– or 2s.), was a coin worth 1⁄10 of one pound, or 24 pence. It was issued from 1849 until 1967, with a final issue for collectors dated 1970.
In 1794 a shilling was a small coin made of silver. Money had a higher worth in 1700s than it does today. Despite only being worth 12 pence it would have the same buying power as a £5 note today. Finally, 21 shillings or 252 pennies made a gold coin known as a guinea.
Until 1971, British money was divided up into pounds, shillings and pence. One pound was divided into 20 shillings. One shilling was divided into 12 pennies.
"Thoroughbreds are sold at public auction in Guineas (gns), one guinea equals £1.05. Traditionally horses were sold in this currency and the five pence from every guinea was taken by the Auctioneer as commission."
What is the difference between a Sovereign and a guinea?
In 1717 the Guinea became fixed at 21 shillings (in today's money that is £1.05). Other coins of the family were also minted, such as half-guinea, two-guinea and five-guinea. In the Great Recoinage of 1816 the Guinea was replaced by the Pound and the Sovereign became the gold coin in use.
The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of a pound before being phased out during the 1960s and 1970s.
A half crown was valued at two shillings and sixpence, which equated to an eighth of a Pound. Crowns and half crowns had a long lifespan in British coinage, with production continuing until 1967.
A Farthing has a nominal value of one quarter of a Penny. The first Silver farthing was issued in 1279 under Edward I, however they are commonly associated more so with later milled Copper issues, especially that of Charles II, Anne and Victoria.
The crown, originally known as the "crown of the double rose", was an English coin introduced as part of King Henry VIII's monetary reform of 1526, with a value of 1⁄4 of one pound, or five shillings, or 60 pre-decimal pence.
During the song, the "Bird Woman" appears, she sits on the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral selling bags of bird food for tuppence (two pence) a bag. The British pound was worth then US five dollars, there were 240 pence (pennies) to the pound. Therefore "tuppence" would have been worth around four US cents.
As one troy pound (12 troy ounces) of 22-carat gold used to be minted into 44+1⁄2 guineas worth 44.5 × £ 1+1⁄20 = £ 46+29⁄40, each troy pound of 22 carat gold was henceforth minted into 46.725 sovereigns, with each coin weighing 7.98805 g (0.256822 ozt; 123.2745 gr) and containing 7.32238 g (0.235420 ozt; 113.0016 gr) ...
One dollar equals 100 cents. Dollars are in paper notes called bills and come in $100, $50, $20, $10, $5 and $1. Cents come in coins. If you'd like to sound like a true American, these coins are called a quarter (25 cents), a dime (10 cents), a nickel (5 cents) and a penny (1 cent).
