Money in Victorian London

Currency Conversions

• £1 = 20 shillings
• 1 shilling = 12 pennies

Banknotes

Banknotes, as paper money is often referred, come in the following denominations: £1, £2, £5, £10, £20, £50, £100

Individual Coins

• Farthing: 1/4 penny. Copper or bronze.
• Half-Penny: 1/2 penny. Copper or bronze.
• Penny: 1 penny. Copper
• Three-Pence: 3 pence. Silver.
• Six-Pence: 6 pence. Silver.
• Shilling: 1 shilling. Silver.
• Florin: 2 shillings. Silver.
• Half-Crown: 2 shillings & sixpence. Silver.
• Crown: 5 shillings. Silver.
• Half-Sovereign: 10 shillings. Gold.
• Sovereign: £1. Gold.
• Two-Pound: £2. Gold.
• Five–Pound: £5. Gold.

Money Slang

• Bob: Shilling value. "Three bob."
• Guinea: 21 shillings, just over a pound. Named for an old coin-type; has denotations of aristocracy, based on the idea that someone who pays in guineas rather than pounds is paying a touch more, for royal treatment.
• Pence: Penny value, generally in multiples. Tuppence is two-pence, thruppence is three-pence, sixpence is six-pence.
• Quid: Pound value. "Three quid."