Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency formerly used in the United Kingdom and other British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and from there back to Old Norse, where it means "division", and in fact many Norse influenced countries use the term too.

Slang terms for the old shilling coins include "bob" and "hog".

One abbreviation for shilling is s (for solidus, see £sd). Often it was informally represented by a slash, standing for a long s or ſ, thus 1/6 would be 1 shilling and sixpence, often pronounced "one and six" (and equivalent to 18d; the shilling itself was valued at 12d). A price with no pence was written with a slash and a dash: 11/–. Quite often a triangle or (serif) apostrophe would be used to give a neater appearance, such as 1'6 or 11'–. In Africa, it is often abbreviated sh.

During the Great Recoinage of 1816, the mint was instructed to coin one troy pound (weighing 5760 grains) of standard (0.925 fine) silver into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations. This effectively set the weight of the shilling, and its subsequent decimal replacement 5 new pence coin, at 87.2727 grains or 5.655 grams from 1816 to 1990, when a new smaller 5p coin was introduced.

Shilling (Irish coin)

The shilling (1s) (Irish: scilling) coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth ¹⁄₂₀ of a pound.

The original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1942 contained 75% silver; this Irish coin had a higher content than the equivalent British coin. These earlier coins were noticeably different from their later counterparts as they were of a lighter hue than the cupronickel coins minted from 1951, and they resisted wear less well. The cupronickel coin contained 75% copper and 25% nickel.

The coin measured 0.935 inches (23.7 mm) in diameter and weighed 5.655 grams; this did not change with cupro-nickel coin. The last shillings were minted in 1968. When the currency was decimalised, this coin continued to circulate alongside its replacement five pence (which also featured a bull on the reverse); the shilling was finally withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1993 as a smaller five pence coin was introduced.

The reverse design featuring a bull was by English artist Percy Metcalfe. The obverse featured the Irish harp. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name Saorstát Éireann circling around. From 1938 to 1968 the inscription changed to Éire on the left of the harp and the date on the right.

Shilling (Australian)

The Australian Shilling was a coin of the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. The coin was minted from 1910 until 1963, excluding 1923, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1938, 1947, 1949 and 1951. After decimalisation on 14 February 1966, it was equal to 10¢.

During World War II, between 1942–1944, shilling production was supplemented by coinage produced at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint, which bear a small S below the ram's head.

Types

Mintmarks

References

External links