The familiar coins of the pre-decimal era, in use until 1971.
Money is one of the most important and revealing features of
a community. Coinage as a method of payment became
popular in Britain during the Roman period. Prior to this, bartering, services
or payment in kind was the typical method of settling debts.
The denomination of a coin was once
determined by the value of the metal it contained – gold, silver or copper in
varying quantities. We still refer to coins as 'silver' or 'coppers' today,
even though they now largely comprise base metals. To prevent the surreptitious
'clipping' of the once-valuable metal, at one time a capital offence, the edges
of coins were crimped. This is still done today.
Denominations varied from a
farthing (a 'fourthing' or quarter of a penny) to a sovereign (thirty
shillings). The notation for 'penny' was
'd' until decimalisation. This was short
for denarius, a Roman coin of a roughly equivalent value. When the
British currency was finally decimalised in February 1971 – this had been under
debate since 1824 – 'p' for pence was substituted.
A depiction of the monarch has been
used on coins since Norman times; the date of coinage was included from the
Tudor period. Many coins from the 18th century onwards depicted the
martial figure of Britannia, a symbol of Britain's military power and empire.
She remained on the British penny until decimalisation.
Old coins found around Preston.
A cartwheel penny of George III, a
large, short-lived coin so-named because
of its size (1797); a coin of George IV (1826); a penny of Victoria (1862); a
penny of Edward VII (1908); a florin [two shillings] of George V (1920); a
farthing of George V (1928); a threepence of George V (1919).
Perhaps they dropped from a worn
pocket as a labourer trudged across the fields or farmyards. Perhaps they found
their way into household refuse which was scattered on the fields. And there they remained, for decades or
centuries, until they again appeared on the surface.
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