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Dealing in Pounds, Shillings and Pence
Britain’s old currency was a nightmare compared to the decimal system
Let me take you back to a decade, not too long ago, when England won the World Cup, Mick Jagger was in his twenties, and English currency went up in increments of twelve (dramatic chord).
To the people of this fair isle born in the closing decades of the twentieth century, and certainly every Millennial, British currency has always operated via a clear and easy-to-understand decimalised system, in which one hundred pennies equals one pound. While this system keeps everything neat and tidy, things weren’t always so simple. Prior to 1970, we bought and sold in LSD, or pounds, shillings and pence.
Already we see there is a problem. How can the words pounds, shillings and pence be abbreviated to LSD? The answer is Latin.
Librae, Solidi, Denarii
The abbreviation refers to librae (pounds), solidi (shillings), denarii (pence), This is why the pound symbol (£) is basically an ornate letter L. It is also why as a child I was confused as to why something costing two shillings would be priced 2s: s for shilling, right, got it, while another costing two pence would be marked as 2d. 2d? Where did that come from?
