Understanding British Money: What’s a Quid? A Shilling?

Just to make matters even more complex, you had shillings, which had a value of 12 pence each, meaning there were 20 of them in a pound or 5 of them to a crown. Britannia Coin Company are the UK’s leading online gold and silver coin buyer. We offer UK investors the opportunity to buy at low premiums above the global spot price and give practical advice on investing. The Royal Mint discontinued the coin after 1981 due to the cost of minting such a large coin with such a low monetary value. In 1990 the crown was revived as a “Five Pound” coin, the same size as a crown but with a value twenty times greater.

Gothic Queen Victoria Crown

It was then that designer Benedetto Pistrucci produced his famous St George and the Dragon design that was to adorn the reverse of the silver crown and make its appearance on our coinage for years to come. Aside from when Britain was under the reign of Mary, and then Mary and Phillip, gold crowns continued to be issued until 1662. Due to the First World War taking its toll on the British atfx broker review economy, in 1920, the crown was reduced from 92.5% silver to just 50%. During King George V’s reign, a new design adorned a small number of crowns that were struck; that of a crown within a wreath. There was then a large number of crowns struck for King George V’s Silver Jubilee in 1935.

1. This post was originally published in the Fall 1993 issue of The Sherlockian Times and was later reprinted in The Formidable Scrap-Book of Baker Street, edited by Carolyn & Joel Senter.
2. The crown issued for circulation that year marked the end of hammered coins as the Royal Mint transferred to mill striking permanently after centuries of working by hand.
3. It wasn’t until 1662 that the last gold crown was minted – that of Charles II.
4. The British silver crown was always a large coin, and from the 19th century it did not circulate well.
5. As a sort of summary evaluation, consider that at the time the pound sterling was worth about $4.90 US.

Two Pence Coin

The silver crown was one of a number of European silver coins which first appeared in the 16th century, all of which were of a similar diameter (about 38 millimetres) and weight (approximately one ounce)