Pounds (£), shillings (s) and pence (p) made up the basics of British currency in the Regency period. Traditionally, money was issued in coins however there were bank notes in use, issued by various banks. Bank notes were pre-printed like modern day money however each one was filled in by hand upon issuance with the date, name of the payee and the cashier’s signature.
4 farthings = one penny
12 pence = one shilling
Ten shillings and sixpence (“ten and six”) = half a guinea
Twenty one shillings = one guinea
Copper/Bronze Coins
1/8 d half farthing
¼ d farthing
½ d half penny “ha’pence”, “hap’ney”
Silver Coins
1 d penny “copper”
2 d twopence “tuppence”
3 d threepence “thruppence”
4 d groat
6 d sixpence “tanner”
12 d shilling “bob”
2 s florin
2 ½ s half crown “half a crown”
5 s crown “bull”
Gold Coins
10 s half sovereign “ten bob”
20 s sovereign “quid”
21 s guinea
Paper Notes
½£ 1/2 pound
1£ 1 pound note “quid”
5£ 5 pound note “fiver”
10£ 10 pound note “tenner”
20£ 20 pound note
100£ 100 pound note
200£ 200 pound note
1,000£ 1,000 pound note
Want to know what it’s worth today? The following website will convert the value of a British pound from as far back as 1830 to the current day value in US dollars.
Born many years ago in England, I was raised with the ‘old’ currency still in effect…it continued well beyond Regency, with the exception of the groat and florin. Believe it or not, 50 years ago we still had the farthing.
Might I add, the half penny was spoken as ‘hap’ney’; therefore 2d and 1/2 d, would have been called, ‘tuppence hap’ney’. Pence was only used if the amount was a penny or more.
And the ‘half crown’ as you list above, was always refered to as ‘half a crown’. And the half sovereign was called, ‘ten bob’.
The guinea was actually the 20s coin at that time but refered to as such due to the rising prices of gold. By the Victorian era, it was considered more a term for asking a wee bit extra than a sovereign (pound) and the term lasted until the decimal currency change.
MC,
Thank you so much for commenting with clarifications –I’ve updated the post to include your remarks.
Thank you so much for considering my comments in an update!