List of British banknotes and coins

Last updated August 11, 2024

List of British banknotes and coins, with commonly used terms.

Coins

Pre-decimal

Prior to decimalisation in 1971, there were 12 pence (written as 12d) in a shilling (written as 1s or 1/-) and 20 shillings in a pound, written as £1 (occasionally "L" was used instead of the pound sign, £). There were therefore 240 pence in a pound. For example, 2 pounds 14 shillings and 5 pence could have been written as £2 14s 5d or £2/14/5. The origin of £/ ${\mathfrak {L}}$ , s, and d were the Latin terms Libra, meaning a pound weight (with the £ sign developing as an elaborate L), solidus (pl. solidi), 20 of which made up one Libra, and denarius (pl. denarii), 240 of which made up one Libra with 12 being equal to one solidus. These terms and divisions of currency were in use from the 7th century.

The value of some coins fluctuated, particularly in the reigns of James I and Charles I. The value of a guinea fluctuated between 20 and 30 shillings before being fixed at 21 shillings in December 1717. These are denominations of British, or earlier English, coins – Scottish coins had different values.

Coin	Pre-decimalisation value	Post-decimalisation value ^[1]	Dates of use	Notes
Mite	⁠1/24⁠d	£0.0001736	15th century	The Flemish groat approximately matched the English penny c 1420-1480 and was divided into 24 mites. The latter was thus extended to mean ⁠1/24⁠ penny or ⁠1/6⁠ farthing even if not minted in Tudor England.^[2]^[3]
Quarter farthing	⁠1/16⁠d	£0.00026	1839–1868.	^{[coins 1]}
Third farthing	⁠1/12⁠d	£0.0003472	1827–1913.	^{[coins 1]}
Half farthing	⁠1/8⁠d	£0.00052083	1828–1868.	^{[coins 1]}
Farthing	⁠1/4⁠d	£0.00104167	c. 1200–1960.	The word "farthing" means "fourth part" (of a penny).
Halfpenny	⁠1/2⁠d	£0.0021	1272–1969.	Often called a "ha'penny" (pronounced /ˈheɪpni/ HAYP-nee), plural halfpennies ("ha'pennies") for the coins, halfpence ("ha'pence") for the monetary amount.
Three farthings	⁠3/4⁠d	£0.0031	1561–1582.
One penny	1d	£0.0042	757–1970 (and thereafter only for Maundy).	Commonly called a "copper"; plural "pennies" for the coins, "pence" for the monetary amount
Three halfpence	1⁠1/2⁠d	£0.0063	1561–1582, 1834–1870.	Pronounced as "three-ha'pence".^{[coins 1]}
Half groat	2d	£0.0083	1351–1662.
Twopence	2d	£0.0083	silver 1668–current (for Maundy); copper 1797–1798.	Pronounced "tuppence".
Threepence	3d	£0.0125	silver 1547–1945 (and thereafter only for Maundy), nickel-brass 1937–1970.	Sometimes called "thripp'nce", "thrupp'nce", "threpp'nce" or "thripp'ny bit", "thrupp'ny bit". Referred to as a "joey" after the groat was no longer in circulation, as featured in George Orwell's Keep the Aspidistra Flying .
Groat	4d	£0.0167	silver 1279–1662, 1836–1862 (and thereafter only for Maundy).	Referred to as a "joey" after Joseph Hume, the economist and Member of Parliament until it stopped being issued in 1885.^[4]
Sixpence	6d	£0.025	1547–1970; circulated from 1971 to 1980 with a value of two and a half decimal pence.	Also called "tanner", sometimes "tilbury",^[5] or "joey" after the groat was no longer in circulation.^{[ citation needed ]}
Shilling	1/-	£0.05	1502–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1990 with a value of five decimal pence.	Also called a "bob", in singular or plural.
Quarter florin or helm	1/6	£0.075	1344	Gold coin demonetized within one year. ^{[coins 2]}
Gold penny	1/8 to 2/-	£0.0833 to £0.1	1257–1265.	Gold. Undervalued for its metal content and extremely rare.
Quarter noble	1/8	£0.0833	1344–1470.
Quarter angel	2/-	£0.1	1547–1600.	Gold.
Florin or two shillings	2/-	£0.1	1848–1970, circulated from 1971 to 1993 with a value of ten decimal pence.	Not to be confused with the gold medieval florin. ^{[coins 2]}
Half crown	2/6	£0.125	1526–1969.	Sometimes known as "half a dollar" (see Crown below).
Half florin or leopard	3/-	£0.15	1344	Gold; extremely rare. ^{[coins 2]}
Half noble	3/4 to 4/2	£0.1667 to £0.2083	minted 1346–1438.	increased in value in 1464
Half angel	3/4, later 5/6	£0.1667, later £0.275	1470–1619.
Double florin	4/-	£0.2	1887–1890.	Silver. ^{[coins 2]}
Crown of the rose	4/6	£0.225	1526–1551.
Dollar (British coin)	5/-	£0.25	1804–1811, (withdrawn 1818) ^[6]	Silver, overstruck on Spanish 8 Reales coin.
Crown	5/-	£0.25	1526–1965.	Sometimes known as "a dollar" – from the 1940s when the exchange rate was four USD to the GBP.
Quarter guinea	5/3	£0.2625	1718, 1762.
Florin or double leopard	6/-	£0.3	1344.	Gold; demonetized within one year. ^{[coins 2]}
Noble	6/8, later 8/4	£0.3333, later £0.4167	1344–1464.	Increased in value in 1464.
Angel	6/8	£0.3333	1461–1643.
Half mark	6/8	£0.333	[medieval period]	A unit of account, not a coin. Convenient as it was exactly one-third of a pound.
Third guinea	7/-	£0.35	1797–1813.
Rose noble or ryal	10/-, later 15/-	£0.5, later £0.75	1464–1470, 1487, 1553–1603.	Increased in value from 1553.
Half sovereign	10/-	£0.5	1544–1553; 1603–1604; 1817–1937	A bullion coin since 1980.
Half pound	10/-	£0.5	1559–1602; 1642–1644
Double crown	10/-	£0.5	1604–1619; 1625–1662.
Half laurel	10/-	£0.5	1619–1625.
Half unite	10/-	£0.5	1642–1643.
Half guinea	10/6	£0.525	1669–1813.
Mark	13/4	£0.667	[medieval period]	A unit of account not a coin, but widely used.
Spur ryal	15/-	£0.75	1604–1625.
Sovereign	20/-	£1	1489–1604; 1817–1937	A bullion coin since 1957.
Unite	20/-	£1	1604–1619; 1649–1662.
Laurel	20/-	£1	1619–1644?
Carolus	20/-, later 23/-	£1, later £1.15	reign of Charles I.
Broad	20/-	£1	1656.
Guinea	21/-	£1.05	1663–1799, 1813.
Rose Ryal	30/-	£1.50	1604–1625.
Two pounds	40/-	£2	1823–1937.	Gold; "double sovereign".
Two guineas or double guinea	originally 40/-, later 42/-	originally £2, later £2.10	1664–1753.	Originally known as a "forty-shilling piece"; value changed to forty-two shillings after the Proclamation of 1717 finally settled the value of a guinea.
Fifty shillings	50/-	£2.50	1656.
Triple unite	60/-	£3	1642–1644.
Five pounds	100/-	£5	1826–1990.	Gold.
Five guineas	originally 100/-, later 105/-	originally £5, later £5.25	1668–1753.	Originally known and valued as five pounds, but became five guineas when the guinea was standardised at one pound and one shilling in 1717.

Notes:

1 2 3 4 Denomination issued for use in the colonies, usually in Ceylon, Malta, and the West Indies.
1 2 3 4 5 The medieval florin, half florin, and quarter florin were gold coins intended to circulate in Europe as well as in England and were valued at much more than the Victorian and later florin and double florin. The medieval florins were withdrawn within a year because they contained insufficient gold for their face value and thus were unacceptable to merchants.

1915 half sovereign
1560–61 halfpound, one of the first English milled coins
1740 Two guineas

Decimal

Since decimalisation on "Decimal Day", 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. Originally the term "new pence" was used; the word "new" was dropped from the coinage in 1983. The old shilling equated to five (new) pence, and, for example, £2 10s 6d became £2.52⁠+1/2⁠. The symbol for the (old) penny, "d", was replaced by "p" (or initially sometimes "np", for new pence). Thus 72 pence can be written as £0.72 or 72p; both were commonly read as "seventy-two pee".

Post-decimalisation British coins.
Name	Value	Notes
Half penny	£0.005⁠1/2⁠p	Sometimes written "ha'penny" (pronounced /ˈheɪpni/ HAYP-nee), but normally called a "half-pee"; demonetised and withdrawn from circulation in December 1984.
One penny	£0.01 1p
Two pence	£0.02 2p
Five pence	£0.05 5p	A direct replacement for the shilling. The coin was reduced in size in 1990.
Six pence	6p	Minted uniquely in 2016 as a commemorative coin.^[7]
Ten pence	£0.10 10p	A replacement for the florin (two shillings). The coin was reduced in size in 1992.
Twenty pence	£0.20 20p	Introduced in 1982.
Twenty-five pence	£0.25 25p	A commemorative coin issued between 1972 and 1981 as a post-decimal continuation of the old crown. From 1990 it was replaced in the commemorative role by the £5 coin.
Fifty pence	£0.50 50p	Introduced in 1969, just prior to decimalisation, to replace the ten shilling note ("ten bob note"). It was initially sometimes called a "ten bob bit". The coin was reduced in size in 1997.
One pound	£1	Introduced in 1983 to replace the one pound note.
Sovereign	£1	Gold bullion coins, available in four other sizes too: quarter sovereign (25p), half sovereign (£⁠1/2⁠), double sovereign (£2) and quintuple sovereign (£5).
Two pounds	£2	Issued as a commemorative coin from 1986 and in general circulation from 1998 (dated from 1997).
Britannia	various values	Gold and silver bullion coins, either one — or multiples, or fractions of — troy ounces.
Five pounds	£5	Introduced in 1990 as a commemorative coin, as a continuation of the old crown, replacing the commemorative role of the twenty-five pence coin.
The Valiant	various values	Bullion / collectors' coins issued in 2018 to 2021; 1 troy ounce of silver, with a value of £2, or 10 troy ounces, valued at £10.^[8]
Twenty pounds	£20	Introduced in 2013 as a commemorative coin.^[9]
Fifty pounds	£50	Introduced in 2015 as a commemorative coin.^[10]
One hundred pounds	£100	Introduced in 2015 as a commemorative coin.^[11]

Banknotes

Main articles: Banknotes of the pound sterling and Bank of England note issues.

Note: The description of banknotes given here relates to notes issued by the Bank of England. Three banks in Scotland and four banks in Northern Ireland also issue notes, in some or all of the denominations: £1, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100.

British bank notes:

Pre-decimalisation British Notes:
Name	Value	Circulation	Notes
Five shilling note	5/- (£0.25)	N non-circulating	Originally issued by the treasury in 1914-1928. Not replaced by Bank of England notes.
Ten shilling note	10/- (£0.50)	N non-circulating	Originally issued by the treasury in 1914. Replaced by Bank of England notes from 1928. Commonly known as "ten bob note" or "half a quid". 1914–1970.

Post-decimalisation British Notes:
Name	Value	Circulation	Notes
£1 note	£1	N non-circulating Y in circulation	Withdrawn in England and Wales in 1988. It is still issued by the Royal Bank of Scotland, and still used in some of the Channel Islands.^{[ citation needed ]} Commonly known as a "quid".
£5 note	£5	Y in circulation	The original "large white fiver" five pound note was known as "five jacks" and replaced in 1957 by the blue £5 note. Now also known as a "fiver".
£10 note	£10	Y in circulation	Also known as a "tenner".
£20 note	£20	Y in circulation	Also known as a "score".
£50 note	£50	Y in circulation	Also known as a "bullseye".
£100 note	£100	Y in circulation	Issued by Scottish and Northern-Irish banks only.
£1,000,000 note	£1,000,000	N non-circulating	Also known as a "Giant". Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.^[12] Also issued in 1948 as a temporary measure during the postwar reconstruction in the Marshall Plan.^[13]
£10,000,000 note	£10,000,000	N non-circulating	Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.
£100,000,000 note	£100,000,000	N non-circulating	Also known as a "Titan". Used as backing for banknotes issued by Scottish and Northern Irish banks when exceeding the value of their 1845 reserves. The amount to be covered is over a billion pounds.^[12]

Bank of England notes are periodically redesigned and reissued, with the old notes being withdrawn from circulation and destroyed. Each redesign is allocated a "series". Currently the £50 note is "series F" issue whilst the £5, £10 and £20 notes are "series G" issue. Series G is the latest round of redesign, which commenced in September 2016 with the polymer £5 note, September 2017 with the polymer £10 note, and February 2020 with the polymer £20 note.^[14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coins of the pound sterling</span> British current and historic coinage

The standard circulating coinage of the United Kingdom, British Crown Dependencies and British Overseas Territories is denominated in pennies and pounds sterling, and ranges in value from one penny sterling to two pounds. Since decimalisation, on 15 February 1971, the pound has been divided into 100 pence. Before decimalisation, twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound.

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.

The Australian dollar is the official currency and legal tender of Australia, including all of its external territories, and three independent sovereign Pacific Island states: Kiribati, Nauru, and Tuvalu. In April 2022, it was the sixth most-traded currency in the foreign exchange market and as of Q4 2023 the seventh most-held reserve currency in global reserves.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pound sterling</span> Currency of the United Kingdom

Sterling is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound is the main unit of sterling, and the word pound is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Irish pound</span> Currency of Ireland before 2002

The pound was the currency of Ireland until 2002. Its ISO 4217 code was IEP, and the symbol was £ The Irish pound was replaced by the euro on 1 January 1999. Euro currency did not begin circulation until the beginning of 2002.

Decimal Day in the United Kingdom and in Ireland was Monday 15 February 1971, the day on which each country decimalised its respective £sd currency of pounds, shillings, and pence.

£sd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence", is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe. The abbreviation originates from the Latin currency denominations librae, solidi, and denarii. In the United Kingdom, these were referred to as pounds, shillings, and pence.

The pound was the currency of Scotland prior to the 1707 Treaty of Union between the Kingdom of Scotland and the Kingdom of England, which created the Kingdom of Great Britain. It was introduced by David I, in the 12th century, on the Carolingian monetary system of a pound divided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence. The Scottish currency was later devalued relative to sterling by debasement of its coinage. By the time of James III, one pound Scots was valued at five shillings sterling.

The pound was the currency of Australia from 1910 until 14 February 1966, when it was replaced by the Australian dollar. Like other £sd currencies, it was subdivided into 20 shillings, each of 12 pence.

The pound is the currency of Guernsey. Since 1921, Guernsey has been in currency union with the United Kingdom and the Guernsey pound is not a separate currency but is a local issue of sterling banknotes and coins, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland, England and Northern Ireland. It can be exchanged at par with other sterling coinage and notes.

The pound is the currency of Gibraltar. It is pegged to – and exchangeable with – British pound sterling at par value. Coins and banknotes of the Gibraltar pound are issued by the Government of Gibraltar.

The Bermudian dollar is the official currency of the British Overseas Territory of Bermuda. It is subdivided into 100 cents. The Bermudian dollar is not normally traded outside Bermuda, and is pegged to the United States dollar at a one-to-one ratio. Both currencies circulate in Bermuda on an equal basis.

The Trinidad and Tobago dollar is the currency of Trinidad and Tobago. It is normally abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or alternatively TT$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies. It is subdivided into 100 cents. Cents are abbreviated with the cent sign ¢, or TT¢ to distinguish from other currencies that use cents. Its predecessor currencies are the Trinidadian dollar and the Tobagonian dollar.

The pound is the currency of Jersey. Jersey is in currency union with the United Kingdom, and the Jersey pound is not a separate currency but is an issue of banknotes and coins by the States of Jersey denominated in sterling, in a similar way to the banknotes issued in Scotland and Northern Ireland. It can be exchanged at par with other sterling coinage and notes.

The pound, or Manx pound, is the currency of the Isle of Man, at parity with sterling. The Manx pound is divided into 100 pence. Notes and coins, denominated in pounds and pence, are issued by the Isle of Man Government.

The pound was the currency of New Zealand from 1933 until 1967, when it was replaced by the New Zealand dollar. Prior to this, New Zealand used the pound sterling since the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. Like the pound sterling, it was subdivided into 20 shillings each of 12 pence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jamaican pound</span> Official currency of Jamaica (1840–1969)

The pound was the official currency of Jamaica between 1840 and 1969. It circulated as a mixture of sterling coinage and locally issued coins and banknotes and was always equal to the pound sterling. The Jamaican pound was also used in the Cayman and Turks and Caicos Islands.

The Australian sixpence circulated from 1910 up until the decimalisation of Australian Currency in 1966. The coins were initially minted in England; however, Australia began to mint their own from the year of 1916 at branches of the Royal Mint in Sydney and Melbourne. The coins which made up Australia's pre-decimal currency were identical to British currency in the characteristics of weight and size. The Coinage Act of 1909–1947, authorised the issue of Australian coins in the select denominations, including the sixpence. By 1916 all silver denominations, including the sixpence, could be minted at the Royal Mint branch in Melbourne. Unique Australian currency was created with decimalisation in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Great Recoinage of 1816</span> Attempted reformation of British currency

The Great Recoinage of 1816 was an attempt by the government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to re-stabilise its currency, the pound sterling, after the economic difficulties brought about by the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars.

The Carolingian monetary system, also called the Carolingian coinage system or just the Carolingian system, was a currency structure introduced by Charlemagne in the late 8th century as part of a major reform, the effects of which subsequently dominated much of Europe, including Britain, for centuries. It is characterised by having three denominations with values in the ratio 1:20:240, the units of which went under different names in the different languages, but which corresponded to the Latin terms libra (pound), solidus (shilling) and denarius (penny), respectively.

References

↑ Face value fixed in 1970; real/retail value likely to be considerably higher
↑ Money and coinage in late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Pages 26-27: groat 0.8-0.9g in 1420s, penny 0.9g in 1411. https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/MONEYLEC.pdf
↑ Lara E. Eakins. "Coinage". tudorhistory.org. Retrieved 22 June 2014.
↑ "Slang Terms for Money".
↑ "Money Slang".
↑ "CoinQuest | What is my old coin worth?". Archived from the original on 7 July 2018.
↑ "Our Coins | the Royal Mint".
↑ The Valiant
↑ "£20 Coins". The Royal Mint.
↑ "£50 Coins". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.
↑ "Buckingham Palace 2015 UK £100 Fine Silver Coin". Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.
1 2 "Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes - The Role of Backing Assets". Bank of England. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2013.
↑ "One in a Million". Time. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
↑ http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current/index.htm Archived 20 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Current banknotes of the Bank of England

External links

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[colonies-4] 1 2 3 4 Denomination issued for use in the colonies, usually in Ceylon, Malta, and the West Indies.

[gold-7] 1 2 3 4 5 The medieval florin, half florin, and quarter florin were gold coins intended to circulate in Europe as well as in England and were valued at much more than the Victorian and later florin and double florin. The medieval florins were withdrawn within a year because they contained insufficient gold for their face value and thus were unacceptable to merchants.

[1] Face value fixed in 1970; real/retail value likely to be considerably higher

[2] Money and coinage in late Medieval and Early Modern Europe. Pages 26-27: groat 0.8-0.9g in 1420s, penny 0.9g in 1411. https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/munro5/MONEYLEC.pdf

[3] Lara E. Eakins. "Coinage". tudorhistory.org. Retrieved 22 June 2014.

[5] "Slang Terms for Money".

[6] "Money Slang".

[8] "CoinQuest | What is my old coin worth?". Archived from the original on 7 July 2018.

[9] "Our Coins | the Royal Mint".

[10] The Valiant

[11] "£20 Coins". The Royal Mint.

[12] "£50 Coins". The Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 29 September 2016.

[13] "Buckingham Palace 2015 UK £100 Fine Silver Coin". Royal Mint. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 12 August 2015.

[Other_Notes-14] 1 2 "Scottish and Northern Ireland Banknotes - The Role of Backing Assets". Bank of England. Archived from the original on 19 November 2015. Retrieved 26 September 2013.

[15] "One in a Million". Time. 5 August 2009. Retrieved 13 April 2018.

[16] ttp://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/current/index.htm Archived 20 February 2012 at the Wayback Machine Current banknotes of the Bank of England

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