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History Before decimalisation in 1971, a shilling had a value of 12d (old pence), and was equal to 1/20th of a pound: there were 240 (old) pence to the pound. Post-decimalisation, "shilling" refers to the 5p coin, which is still worth 1/20th of a pound, because there are 100 new pence in a pound. The name shilling is believed to come from the old Scandinavian word skilling, meaning a division, or a mark on a stick. The abbreviation for shilling is "s", from the Latin solidus, the name of a Roman coin. Often it was written informally or printed with a slash, e.g., "1/6" as 1 shilling and sixpence, or when there were no pence with a slash then a hyphen, e.g., "11/-". Quite often a triangular shape or (sans serif) apostrophe would be used to give a neater appearance, e.g., "1'6" and "11'-". During the reign of Queen Elizabeth II shillings were minted featuring both the English "three lions", technically three leopards couchant, coat of arms, and the Scottish lion rampant coat of arms (see illustration above). A slang name for a shilling was a "bob" (which was invariant in the plural, as in "that cost me two bob"). To "take the King's shilling" was to enlist in the army or navy, a phrase dating back to the early 19th century; specifically in the context of kissing the image of the sovereign in general, a shilling being a convenient object carrying the likeness. Supposedly the practice of press gangs whereby they would drop a shilling into a tankard, and thus trick the unwary patron to touch his lips to the shilling, supposedly enough to submit to conscription, led to the development of glass bottomed tankards. In a modern context, to say someone has "taken the King's shilling" implies in a derogatory way that they are in the pocket (or employment) of another. To "cut someone off without a shilling" (or "with a shilling", that is, with no more than a shilling) means to disinherit. The shilling coin issued in most of the twentieth century was virtually identical in size and weight to the German 1 Deutsche Mark coin (sufficiently similar to be interchangeable in coin-operated machines). This reflected the pre-First World War exchange rate of 20 marks to one pound; by the end of the shilling's circulation, the mark was worth six times as much. Withdrawal The last shillings issued for circulation were dated 1966, although proofs were issued as part of a collectors' set dated 1970. In 1968, new decimal coins, "five new pence" with the same weight and specifications, started to replace shillings. Shillings remained in circulation alongside the 5p coins until 1990, when a new, smaller, 5p coin was produced. Irish shillings
Australian shillings The Australian Shillings were first issued in 1910, with the Australian Coat of Arms on the reverse and King Edward VII on the face. The Coat of Arms design was retained through the reign of King George V until a new ram's head design was introduced for the coins of George VI. This design continued until the last year of issue in 1963. In 1966 Australia's currency was decimalised and the shilling was replaced by a 10 cent coin, where 10 shillings made up one Australian Dollar. The slang term for a shilling coin in Australia was "deener". The slang term for a shilling as currency unit was "bob", the same as in the United Kingdom. East African shillings The East African shilling was in use in the British colonies and protectorates of British Somaliland, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar from 1920, when it replaced the rupee, until after those countries became independent, and in Tanzania after that country was formed by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Upon independence in 1960, the East African Shilling in the Northern Region of Somalia (former British Somaliland) and the Somali Somalo in the Southern Region (former Italian Somaliland) were replaced by the Somali Shilling. In 1966 the East African Monetary Union broke up, and the member countries replaced their currencies with the Kenyan shilling, the Ugandan shilling and the Tanzanian shilling respectively. Though all these currencies have different values at present, there are plans to reintroduce the East African shilling as a new common currency by 2009. Other countries shillings Shillings were also issued in Australia and New Zealand before decimalisation in the 1960s, in Austria (Schilling) until the advent of the euro, in the Scandinavian countries (skilding) until the Scandinavian Monetary Union of 1873, and in the City of Hamburg. The Sol (later the sou), both also derived from the Roman Solidus, were the equivalent coins in France, while the (Nuevo) Sol (PEN) remains the currency of Peru (although in that case, it may simply be the Spanish word for sun; it replaced the inti, which means "sun" in Quechua). Shillings were also used in Malta, prior to decimalization in 1972, and had a face value of five Maltese cents. Other countries that were formerly in the British Empire still use the term Shilling or the local variant (Shillin) informally as a unit of currency among the local populace. For Example in Egypt and Jordan the Shillin Arabic: (شلن) is equal to 1/20th of the Egyptian Pound or the Jordanian Dinar. See also | ||||||||||||
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