”That´ll be sixpence ha´penny luv,” said the lady behind the counter in the corner shop as she handed me my bag of sweets. Not that I actually remember any specific purchase of sweets at that age although there must have been quite a few. I would most likely have given her a shilling and received five and a halfpence in return. Not rocket science once you realise that there were twelve pence to a shilling and quite graspable even for an eight year old.
Taking it a step further the arithmetic becomes slightly more demanding when two items, each with a price tag of 14s 10d (fourteen shillings and ten pence) are to be paid for. The total cost for these two items is one pound nine shillings and eight pence (£1 9s 8d). I should add that mobile phones as well as electronic calculators were not yet invented, the latter not suitable for this system of currency anyway. To arrive at the correct total it must be remembered that there were twenty shillings to a pound and twelve pence to a shilling. So, ten pence + ten pence = twenty pence which works out at one shilling and eight pence (1s 8d). Fourteen shillings + fourteen shillings = twenty eight shillings which gives you one pound and eight shillings (£1 and 8s). Add the two together and bingo you get one pound nine shillings and eight pence (£1 9s 8d). Easy peasy!
In today´s world pound, shillings and pence come across as more of a nightmare than anything else
The `£´ which was the equivalent to 20 shillings or 240 pence, stands for libra the latin word for pound. The `s´ which was the equivalent to 12 pence stands for shilling from scilling a German coin first introduced to 15th Century England by Henry Vll. Finally the `d´ stands for denarius or penny derived from the Carolinguan denarius, a coin spread throughout western Europe under the reign of Charlemagne. Believe it or not there is method to this madness albeit historical. Silver pennies called sceattas (origin Friesland) were the main currency in Anglo-Saxon kingdoms and 240 pieces of these would be the equivalent of one pound in weight, in case you were wondering why there were 240d to a £1.
The UK moved on to the metric system exactly 50 years ago and I would like to think that there are few regrets. However in this day and age of Brexit Britain it might not come as a surprise that there are actually people suggesting a return to not only this system for currency but also the re-introduction of imperial weights and measures. You know, where there are 16 ounces to a pound, 14 pounds to a stone, 12 inches to a foot and 3 feet to a yard and so on.
Actually it does come as a surprise to me when I hear Brexiters argue the value in preserving English history. As mentioned above it´s basically all about imports from Germany, France and Italy. The conclusion one might draw, if their quest is successful, would be to hope Brexiter´s arithmetic is better than their grasp of history.