Small English coin. A penny saved is a penny gained, or English coins whose names not everyone can remember

In this article I would like to talk about this very interesting topic, as a small change in Great Britain. In general, I want to say that I simply love visiting England. This is perhaps one of my favorite countries. There are so many interesting things to see here that it is better to plan your route in advance in order to have time to visit everything and take a closer look. Having come here once, I can confidently say that I will never forget this country. Therefore, whoever is planning to come here one day on another trip will find it useful to know about the small change coins of Great Britain, and, of course, about the coins that are used there.

So, such a coin is a penny, and is sometimes called a penny, from the English language . And from French - cattle, from Irish - pingin, from Finnish and Estonian - also penny. This is one of those monetary units that is exchangeable, and in many countries and in various territories that were once part of the composition that belonged to the British Empire. But the empires of Finland and the Republic of Estonia were also brought here.

Penny - UK coin of change

But I want to note the fact that the penalty that belongs to the British one is considered more famous. At the time when the farthing was active, it was about one-fourth of the penalty itself. Few people know that the word “peni” itself has a common root, moreover, with pfening, which relates directly to German.

British penalty- was originally an English coin, and only then a British coin. Before February 1971, a penny was about 1⁄13 shilling. I want to note that, with the exception of penalties, it was a kind of everyday name for coins in several countries of the world. in which official language is English, namely, in Canada and the United States of America, the official name of the monetary currency is the cent.

And from history it is known that the peni, as well as the pfening, were published in order to imitate the denarius, which belonged to the Roman. Based on this, their very first symbolism was the letter Latin alphabet, which was the very first in the name “denar”. And it is clear that the symbol was the letter “d”.

After decimalization was introduced in the UK, namely in 1972, penalties began to be quoted with a kind of letter “p”. Also, the symbol that belonged to the German Pfening ceased to be active at the end of the 20th century. As you may have noticed, the history of monetary currencies, and especially the UK, is very interesting. You just need to be interested in it and learn more and more of all kinds of artifacts and historical information on a particular event.

By the way, the same penalty that belongs to Finnish, was the currency, and the exchange currency in the country, before that great event when the EURO currency was introduced, it was equal to about 1⁄101 of the Finnish category. With the same success, there was also a monetary exchange currency belonging to the Republic of Estonia, dating back to the periods 1920-1929, which amounted to about 1⁄90 of the Estonian category.

In principle, the story that concerns all monetary exchange currencies of most countries of the world is very well known. And since those times, it has introduced a certain necessity into the country’s economy. After all, if it were not for the events that took place in those days, it is unknown at what level the financial environment of Great Britain was. Now you know everything about small change in this country and about money, so you can safely go to the UK.

The topic of English coins is so multifaceted and confusing that to understand all the “farthings”, “pence”, “pennies”, “shillings”, “pounds”, as well as “guineas”, “florins” and other silver-gold-copper products, called money, is quite difficult.

The very first British coins were minted in the 14th century during the reign of the Plantagenet dynasty under Kings Edward III and Richard II. The gold coins, called florin, half florin and quarter florin, had the image of a leopard on one side and a cross on the other. Because the coins did not match their denominations, they were soon melted down to produce a gold noble. In addition to the main coin, which was equivalent to 80 pence, full coins were issued, i.e. 40 pence, and a quarter of a noble - 20 pence.

The first coins were quite heavy, so after some time the Plantagenet dynasty again thought about new money and minted a noble that was 1.2 grams lighter than the previous one. The noble depicted the king with a sword on a ship, holding a shield in his hands, and on the other side of the coin the king’s initials were minted.

It was this noble that became the most popular coin, which was in demand not only in Great Britain, but also in Rus' and the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, acquiring the name “shipman”.

The Plantagenet dynasty was replaced by the Lancastrian dynasty, during which Henry IV, V and VI ruled. At this time, the price of gold was growing inexorably, and Henry IV decided to reduce the amount precious metals by 10% and 16% in gold and silver coins.

Further in the history of Great Britain, the York dynasty dominated. King Edward IV again reduced the gold content of coins. However, despite this, the value of the noble in silver coins increased and amounted to 100 pence. The previous denominations were melted down, resulting in the "raiol" or "rosenoble", which was not popular and was soon discontinued. But the “angel”, issued in 1461, is still of great value to numismatists.

We will talk about the Tudor and Stuart dynasties, as well as the Hanoverian and Windsor dynasties next time, but now we will study English coins, the names of which should be known to everyone who studies the language of the Queen of Great Britain.

Money has a name "money", and everyone knows this. The coin is called "coin" or “piece of money”. The obverse, or front part of the coin, has a similar name in English language– “obverse”, the reverse side is called reverse – “reverse”. There is also an edge of the coin, which numismatists call “edge” - “milled edge of coin”.

Sterling(sterling) - English silver coin

One pound ( pound) consists of 100 pence ( pence).

One penny - 1 penny
Two pence - 2 pence
Five pence - 5 pence(colloquial name - five p)
Ten pence - 10 pence (ten p)
Twenty pence - 20 pence (twenty pence)
Fifty pence - 50 pence (fifty p)
One pound - 1 pound
Two pounds - 2 pounds

The coin is usually called by different names. You can use any word or expression you like

• change
• base coin
• small coin
• subsidiary coin
• token coin

The coin in circulation is called “current coin”, but the shiny coin that was released is proudly called “mint coin”. Adjective "mint" means “new, just released; not used”, but the verb “to mint” is translated by the word “to mint”. There is also a noun “mint”, which means “mint”.

Learn English and you can earn a pretty penny!

The United Kingdom is strong in tradition. The rules seem unshakable, laws are written as if until the end of time. Therefore, it is not surprising that Great Britain clung to the historical monetary system, different from most states of the twentieth century, to the last. A dozen pence made a shilling, and two dozen shillings made a pound sterling. In reality, the situation was even more complicated, since there were more than a dozen coins with different names, where the largest (guinea) was equal to one thousand eight of the smallest (farthings). It was difficult for lovers of English novels to understand how a grout differs from a sovereign, and why those who went to Great Britain in the late 60s could not bring a sovereign. The inconvenience of the number system created problems for financiers in the markets, which prompted them to change the number. Moreover, countries such as Australia and Canada, having retained the portrait of the Queen of England on the obverse, switched from the pound sterling to the more convenient dollar as a national means of payment. Despite the short period that has passed since "Decimal Day", the catalog of British weather has already gained significant thickness and volume.

British penny

February 1971 thinned out the detachment of monetary units, leaving only the pound sterling and a hundred of its change pence in service. Among the currencies of the leading countries of the capitalist world, the pound sterling was one of the most significant units, so it is not surprising that the smallest coin was not a penny, but a halfpenny. But inflation undermines even the strongest currencies, so the halfpenny can no longer be found in the modern coin series. The penny is the smallest of the UK coins.

The pedigree of the penny must be traced back to monetary units that were brought to the territory of modern Great Britain by Germanic tribes. Historians claim that the forerunner of singing is the monastery, which industriously served as local money in the seventh century. The birth of the penny occurred in the eighth century, and it gradually became a more popular coin than the hermitage, which lasted until the early ninth century. The first penny is silver coin. Only centuries later they began to mint it from copper, and subsequently from bronze.

Since 1985, the penny has been the smallest UK coin. It should be noted that in the period from 1971 to 1981, the word “NEW” was minted next to the denomination name on the coins so that they would not be confused with pre-decimal coins. Of course, the coins were strikingly different in appearance. It is difficult to confuse a pre-reform penny with a diameter of 30.72 millimeters with a new penny that has shrunk one and a half times (20.3 millimeters). The Bank of England considered that a ten-year period was enough for the residents of the United Kingdom to get used to the new money, so since 1982 the word “NEW” has been replaced by the capital value of the denomination (“ONE PENNY”).

Since 1992, coin production has become cheaper, when the monolithic bronze of pennies and two-penny coins was replaced by a copper-plated steel core. In order not to rebuild vending machines that respond to weight, the new generation of coins had to be made thicker.

The design of the reverse is symbolically connected with the number “1”. There is a grating of the fortress gates, topped with a crown. This was exactly the emblem of the first king in the Tudor dynasty, Henry the Seventh. A radical change in the design of the reverse of UK coins occurred in 2008. They decided to leave only the largest denomination unchanged. For the rest, the work of the competition winner, Matthew Dent, was used. interesting idea, when fragments of the Royal Shield are placed on the reverse. And the owner of a coin series from pennies to fifty pence will be able to make an image of this shield from coins.

Two pence

If one is a penny, then all the other denominations are pence. Although our modern language and allows the phrase “one penny”, seeing this for a classic is the same as being educated by a good teacher of the Russian language reading “hare”, “parachute” or “one coffee”. Accordingly, “two pennies” are two coins of one penny each. What if one coin is already “two pence.” The birth date of the modern version of two pence is February 15, 1971. It was then that the Royal Mint released this coin into circulation, completing the campaign to switch to the decimal system. At first, bronze was used as the material for the blank. 1992 is a steel coin (93%), covered with copper (7%). Connoisseurs, however, pay attention to the fact of the existence of a bronze coin and later years of issue (in catalogs for this variety the letter “a” is added to the main number), which was issued. to form collection sets, which included coins of "PROOF" quality.

There are many things associated with this coin. interesting stories. Let's take a look at the original reverse. What's that feathered crown? It turns out that when the denomination was put into circulation, it was planned to mint the coat of arms of Northern Ireland there. But the late 60s were an extremely turbulent period for Northern Ireland. Belfast is fresh in my mind. Armed clashes occur. Troops have been brought in, but skeptics shake their heads that Northern Ireland will soon leave the United Kingdom. Therefore, at the last moment, a decision was made: on the reverse of the two pence to place a diadem decorated with ostrich feathers - the coat of arms of the Prince of Wales. The decision turned out to be prescient. In 1972, the Northern Ireland government was dissolved and the coat of arms of Northern Ireland was deprived of its official status.

The period of coins with the prefix "NEW" ends in 1981, and only for two pence it was unexpectedly extended until 1983 in a number of catalogs. The fault here is no longer politics, but confusion. In 1983, for the minting of a small part of the circulation, an outdated stamp was mistakenly placed, where instead of the required “TWO” the old “NEW” was displayed. This mistake is greatly appreciated by UK weather collectors, so "NEW PENCE" 1983 are already trading with totals of several thousand pounds sterling.

Let us note the fact that the packaging of two pence in bank packaging is carried out in amounts equal to one pound. But hurry with this packaging to retail outlets. Plans by those who like to upset cashiers by counting change from piggy banks in the UK will be severely overthrown. It turns out that for some denominations the amounts within which they are a means of payment are legally established. For one penny and two pence coins, this amount is only twenty pence. If numismatists divide the periods of pre-reform coins of the USSR by the number of ribbons in the coat of arms of the Soviet state, then for coins of the countries of the Commonwealth of the British Crown the dividing line is a change in the portrait of the ruling monarch. In Great Britain, the portrait has been changed three times so far. Note that the original version was created by Arnold Machin. From 1985 to 1997, Elizabeth II was depicted according to a portrait by Raphael Maklouf, and since 1998, the obverse of the coins has been decorated with a portrait by Ian Rank-Broadley. The obverse is the same for all coins of the Commonwealth of the British Crown, which includes such significant countries as Australia and Canada.

Five pence (UK)

And this is the pioneer of monetary reform, the goal of which was the introduction of the decimal system. It is believed that it replaced the shilling. This makes sense, since both a shilling and the new five pence are the twentieth of a pound. The fivepence coin was introduced into circulation on April 23, 1968. Until 1971, these coins had to saturate circulation and become familiar, so that the abandonment of the shilling would not seem like a national tragedy. Note that the shilling finally left circulation only in 1990. During the “decimal” period, the existence of the five-pence piece managed to change significantly. It originally weighed 5.65 grams and had a diameter of 23.59 millimeters. But as soon as the shilling disappeared, the five pence shrank to eighteen millimeters in diameter and was reduced to three grams and a quarter. Since 2012, copper-nickel for workpieces has given way to nickel-plated steel. Since 2008, the reverse of the five pence has become the central fragment of the overall composition. This is where it is located common point, where all four coats of arms meet.

Ten pence (UK)

Paired with five pence, coins of this denomination were the vanguard in preparing for the introduction of the decimal system. They also appeared in circulation on April 23, 1968. The ten penny piece, weighing 11.31 grams and with a diameter of 28.5 millimeters, was to take the baton from the florin (two shilling denomination). The florin itself remained in circulation and existed for almost a quarter of a century, until July 1, 1993. From the same moment, ten pence changes in size, becoming noticeably smaller (weight - 6.5 grams and diameter - 24.5 millimeters). Both five and ten pence in the old sizes have been withdrawn from circulation, along with shillings and florins. A gigantic one and a half billion circulation, minted in 1992, was intended to supplant the coins of the previous type. However, there are coins of both types with the date “1992”. Nickel silver, familiar to us from the pre-reform USSR, was a material for blanks until 2012. Since January 2012, dimes have been made from nickel-plated steel. Modern ten pences are similar in size to American quarters.

Twenty pence (UK)

A decade of circulation of the new coins showed the inconvenience of the empty space between the ten and fifty cent denominations. Filling it out is the calling of the new denomination, introduced into circulation on June 9, 1982. Copper-nickel billets differ from other denominations in the form of a higher copper content (84% versus 75%). The coin borrowed its shape from the “fifty kopeck piece” - the same Reuleaux heptagon. This shape is designed to separate it by touch from other denominations (it cannot be confused with a fifty-pence note due to the difference in dimensions).

2008 gave numismatists interesting mix-up. From this year, fragments of the English and Scottish lions are minted on the reverse. But the fact is that on the coins of the previous issue the minting date was located on the reverse, while new design does not imply this. The date successfully moves to the obverse. But chance intervenes: a small part of the circulation is minted with an old-style stamp. As a result The date is missing on both the reverse and obverse. Experts estimate that the circulation of the mix-ups was less than a quarter of a million. And they all went into circulation. So catching an undated twentypence would be a big hit.

Note that in the “decimal” period there was also a denomination twenty five new pence. But this was the minting of exclusively commemorative coins in 1972, 1977, 1980 and 1981. Since 1982, the task of this denomination was transferred to twenty pence.

Fifty pence (UK)

On October 14, 1969, a fifty-pence coin was introduced into circulation to support the five- and ten-penny denominations. This is the first coin to have the shape of a Reuleaux heptagon. IN mathematical description of this heptagon we can read its following properties: "The sides are not straight, but curved so that the center of curvature is at the opposite vertex of the coin." Numismatists explain not so intricately: “The coin does not have a fixed radius from any point, but it has a fixed diameter and minimum size along the edge of the coin." The original reverse of the coin had a portrait of a proudly sitting woman, from behind whom a lion peeks out. This is Britain - an analogue of the American Lady Liberty and the French Marianne. Practically, this is the only surviving portrait of Britain on the year after the transition to the decimal system. But it also works Christopher Ironside had to become a thing of the past. Since 2008, according to the design of Matthew Dent, the lower part of the Royal Shield has been minted on the reverse.

One pound sterling

It seemed that the era in which the pound sterling would appear not as a banknote, but as a coin, would never come. But time makes adjustments to everything. Inflation undermined the British pound, and by the early eighties it became clear that it was more profitable to represent this denomination in circulation as a coin. The launch of minting the pound was announced in the summer of 1981. Actually everyday coins appeared on April 21, 1983. The solid denomination differed sharply from pence in its impressive weight (only half a gram was not enough to reach ten) and color (the yellow tint is provided by a quarter of the zinc in the total alloy of the coin). The obverse, as usual, is occupied by a portrait of the queen. Reverse is extremely difficult to describe, since it is not a constant. It changes every year. If it was there in the first year of production National emblem, then after the reverse were symbols representing the constituent parts of the United Kingdom. First, flowers were used, then heraldry, then famous bridges, and then the emblems of capitals. However, plant theme was resumed. According to Matthew Dent, since 2008, the entire Royal Coat of Arms has been placed on the reverse of the pound sterling.

But then 2017 arrived and the Royal Mint transformed the round pound coins into a silver-gold dodecahedron, updating the Queen's portrait and replacing the design on the reverse. New trends are primarily aimed at protecting against counterfeits, of which there are already three percent of the total number of coins of a given denomination in circulation. The updated pound sterling will become the most secure coin in the world. The reverse includes the union of the four parts of the British Empire in the form of four plants on one field. This option became the winner of the competition, and the competition was won by David Pierce, who by that time was only fifteen. “The Mint produces four thousand coins per minute,” the British media broadcast with delight. Old pound round shape very soon it will lose its status as a means of payment and will leave circulation.

Two pounds sterling

The denomination of two pounds found the beginning of a glorious journey in three forms of a commemorative coin. At the same time, two-pound coins with a diameter of 28.4 millimeters and a weight of 15.98 grams were issued from a nickel-brass alloy, 925 silver and 917 gold. Looking at the thistle, it is difficult to understand why this coin is included in the “Sports” category. It turns out this is not a mistake. Before us is not just a symbol of one of the parts of the United Kingdom, but the emblem of the XII Commonwealth Games, which were held in Scotland in 1986.

Researchers observed the circulation of this denomination. Based on the results of their work, they decided to introduce regular coins of the same denomination in addition to commemorative coins. However, the regular version had a significant difference - it became the first representative of the bimetal in the UK. The outer ring is composed of a ternary alloy (76% copper, 20% zinc, and 4% nickel). The inner ring became cupronickel. The coin is heavy - twelve grams with a diameter of 28.4 millimeters. The coin was put into circulation on June 15, 1998. Interesting fact is that coins with the date “1997” came into circulation, on which Elizabeth the Second was portrayed by Raphael Maklouf. Coins from 1998 and later have the Queen's portrait by Iain Rank-Broadley.

The complex design of the reverse was explained by its creator Bruce Rushin as follows: we see a transition from the Iron Age, which symbolizes the outer ring, to the age of the Internet and new technologies. If we look closely, we will see the coordinated work of nineteen gear rings in the center. According to the laws of mechanics, such a device would not be able to function due to an odd number of gears. But this apparently didn’t bother Bruce Rushin at all. Between the gears and the outer ring we see a pattern created by fragments of printed circuit boards.

We can also see five-pound coins in circulation. But they already belong to the “memorable” category, so we will talk about them in the following articles.

Latest auction prices for coins in Russian rubles

Photo	Description of the coin	G	VG	F	VF	XF	AU	UNC	Proof
	1 pound 2016 UK round	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	1 pound 2016 new UK new (12-point), without sign	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	2 pounds 2001 UK from 244 to 287 rub.	-	-	-	-	244	-	287	-
	2 pounds 1997 UK from 276 to 323 rub.	-	-	-	-	276	-	323	-
	2 pounds 1998 UK from 161 to 1,155 rubles.	-	-	-	203	161	195	373	1 155