Information about Shilling

The shilling is a unit of currency in current and former use in many countries. The word is thought to derive from the base skell-, "to ring/resound", and the diminutive suffix -ing. ^[1]

The abbreviation for shilling is s, from the Latin solidus, the name of a Roman coin. Often it was written informally or printed with a slash, e.g., 1/6d as 1 shilling and sixpence (often pronounced "one and six"), or when there were no pence with a slash then a hyphen, e.g., "11/-". Quite often a triangular shape or (sans serif) apostrophe would be used to give a neater appearance, e.g., "1'6" and "11'-". In Africa it is often abbreviated sh.

United Kingdom

In the United Kingdom, a shilling was a coin used before decimalisation in 1971. A shilling had a value of 12d (old pence), and was equal to 1/20th of a pound: there were 240 (old) pence to the pound.

The shilling was superseded by the new five pence piece, which initially was of identical size and weight. The scilling was an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, where it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent, or a sheep elsewhere.

During the reign of Henry VII, the forerunner of the shilling, the testoon, was introduced. This coin was only produced in extremely small quantities, probably around 1489, and the fact that there are only 3 known dies for this issue (and 3 subsequent legend varieties, (HENRIC, HENRIC VII and HENRIC SEPTIM)) states clearly that the coins were not made for general circulation. They were made at the same time as the trials for the Profile issue of Groats and Half-Groats, so they were probably trial pieces or patterns.

The testoon was really struck in quantity during the end of the reign of Henry VIII, with The Tower, Southwark and Bristol producing testoons in 1544-1551. These testoons were made in the very poor base silver, as all coins of this period. The coins were struck after Henry's death in 1547, at The Tower and at Southwark, and possibly at Bristol too.

Mint-marks are as follows:

• TOWER (London)
• two lis OR
• lis OR
• pellet in annulet

Southark

• S OR
• E

Bristol

• WS

The coins from Southwark will have the reverse legend "CIVITAS LONDON" (City of London) and the Bristol coins will have the legend "CIVITAS BRISTOLLIE"

The obverse shows a facing bust of Henry VIII and the reverse shows a crowned rose.

BASE ISSUE

Henry VIII's young son Edward VI continued the issues of base testoons. In his reign the testoons were called shillings for the first time, and the coins show the bust of the young boy. Unlike his father's coins, you cannot identify the shillings of Edward VI from the reverse legend. There are 6 slightly different busts for these issues. Most importantly, these coins are the first English ones to carry the date, which is in Roman numerals. The mints were Durham House, Tower, Southwark, Canterbury and Bristol.

MDXLVIII (1548)

Durham House

• BOW

This issue is exceedingly rare and could be a pattern or contemporary forgery.

MDXLIX (1549)

Durham House

• BOW

Tower

• ARROW OR
• GRAPPLE OR
• PHEON OR
• SWAN

Southwark

• Y OR
• EY

Canterbury

• ROSE OR
• T

Bristol

• TC

MDL (1550)

Tower

• LION OR
• LIS OR
• PHEON AND
• SWAN OR
• MARLET OR
• CROWNED LEOPARD'S HEAD

Southark

• Y OR
• LIS AND Y

MDLI (1551) Tower

• LION AND ROSE OR
• ROSE AND ROSE

Southwark

• Y AND LIS

Undated issue (Durham House) BOW

FINE SILVER ISSUE In 1551 the silver standard was restored from about 0.250 silver to the normal 0.925 "sterling" silver. The issue has a stunning facing bust of the king and is very highly collectible. It was struck in large quantity, but is normally found fairly worn and sometimes holed.

Mint-marks

Tower

No date (1551)

• Y

No date (1551-3)

• TUN

No shillings were struck in England before Queen Mary was married in 1554. (Irish shillings with Mary's portrait were struck in 1553 and 1554 before her marriage to Philip of Spain.)

After Mary's marriage with Philip of Spain some shillings were coined. To boost his popularity his bust was placed on these coins, facing Mary's. These coins are fairly rare, but do frequently appear on the market. There are two main varieties, Spanish titles (which adds on Prince and Princess of Spain) and English titles. Many of these coins were dated using Arabic dates, and some coins have a mark of value (I__II) above the royal shield. There is an exceedingly rare variety which has the date under the busts. All the coins were made at the Tower mint.

One of the first events of Elizabeth I's reign was the counter-marking of the Edward VI shillings to revalue them to their true worth. These coins have the counter-mark of a Portcullis or Greyhound on and are extremely rare. The coins with the portcullis counter-mark were revalued at fourpence halfpenny, and the coins with the Greyhound were revalued at Twopence Farthing.

A major recoinage was then embarked on, with thousands of silver coins being produced. The shilling was no exception, but the date was removed from the design. Luckily we can use mint-marks to reveal the date. No shillings were produced between 1562-82, but the next issue was also very large and a good amount has survived for collectors.

Mint-marks

HAMMERED ISSUE

All coins were produced in the Tower

• Lis (1559-1560)
• Cross crosslet (1560-61)
• Marlet (1560-61)
• Bell (1582-83)
• A (1582-84)
• Escallop (1584-86)
• Crescent (1587-89)
• Hand (1590-92)
• Tun (1592-95)
• Woolpack (1594-96)
• Key (1595-98)
• Anchor (1597-1600)
• 1 (1601)
• 2 (1602)

MILLED ISSUE

Tower mint only

• Star (1560-1)

The milled issue was produced by Eloye Mestrelle using horsepower. The issues were a success, especially the sixpences, but he lost his post over various disputes with the mint-workers. Although Eloye found it very difficult to make smaller coins the sixpences and shillings were made in fairly large quantities. The shillings still tend to be much rarer than sixpences and are often found weakly struck, gilded, holed, mounted etc. They are still available to collectors, albeit in poor condition.

James I's coinage continued in much the same way as Elizabeth's one, but the coins have a mark of value (XII) in front of the bust. Some shillings were struck with a plume above the shield (Welsh silver).

First coinage (Reverse legend Exurgat deus dissipentur inimici)

• Lis (1603-4)
• Thistle (1603-4)

Second coinage (Reverse legend Quae deus coniunxit nemo seperat, square cut beard)

• Lis (1604-5)
• Rose (1604-6)
• Escallop (1606-7)
• Grapes (1607)
• Coronet (1607-9)
• Key (1609-10)
• Mullet (1611-2)
• Tower (1612-3)
• Trefoil (1613)
• Tun (1613-5)
• Cinquefoil (1613-5)
• Closed book (1615-6)
• Plain cross (1617-18)

Third coinage (Very long curly hair )

• Spur Rowel (1619-20)
• Rose (1620-1)
• Thistle (1621-3)
• Lis (1623-4)
• Trefoil (1624

WELSH issues, with plume above shield

• Thistle (1621-3)
• Lis (1623-4)
• Trefoil (1624)

With the exception of Mary I shillings were minted in every subsequent reign as well as during the Commonwealth period. Until the reign of Edward VII monarchs typically issued a wide variety of design types. During the early part of the reign of George III very few shillings (like other silver coins) were struck, although there was a large issue in 1787. In 1763 coins were issued by the Earl of Northumberland to commemorate his ascension. This issue is now very rare, but the contemporary rumour that the issue limit was £100 (2000 pieces) is probably untrue. In 1787 the hearts were left out from the Hanoverian shield in error, but it was so minor that it took some time for them to notice and correct it, so both types are of similar value. In 1798 Mr Doriens Magens struck an issue of shillings in excess of 10,000 pieces, but it was stated to be illegal so the coins were reclaimed and melted down. There are currently about 4 in existence and an example would be worth over £10,000 in any condition.

After the Great Recoinage of England's money in 1816 the shilling was standardized with a weight of 5.7 grams and a diameter of 24 mm. In 1920, along with other national coins, the silver content was reduced from 92.5% (sterling) to 50%, and in 1947 to pure cupro-nickel.

The shilling coin issued in most of the 20th century was virtually identical in size and weight to the German 1 Deutsche Mark coin (sufficiently similar to be interchangeable in coin-operated machines). This reflected the pre-First World War exchange rate of 20 marks to one pound; by the end of the shilling's circulation, the mark was worth six times as much.

During the reign of Elizabeth II, shillings were minted featuring both the English three lions (technically three leopards couchants) coat of arms, and the Scottish lion rampant coat of arms (see illustration above).

Withdrawal

The last shillings issued for circulation were dated 1966, although proofs were issued as part of a collectors' set dated 1970. In 1968, new decimal coins, "five new pence" with the same weight and specifications, started to replace shillings. Shillings remained in circulation alongside the 5p coins until 1990, when a new, smaller, 5p coin was produced.

In popular culture

A slang name for a shilling was a "bob" (which was invariant in the plural, as in "that cost me two bob"). In The Gambia, white people are called ' tuobabs', supposedly from the price of a slave which was 2 shillings.

To "take the King's shilling" was to enlist in the army or navy, a phrase dating back to the early 19th century; specifically in the context of kissing the image of the sovereign in general, a shilling being a convenient object carrying the likeness. Supposedly the practice of press gangs whereby they would drop a shilling into a tankard, and thus trick the unwary patron to touch his lips to the shilling, supposedly enough to submit to conscription, led to the development of glass bottomed tankards. In a modern context, to say someone has "taken the King's shilling" implies in a derogatory way that they are in the pocket (or employment) of another.

To "cut someone off without a shilling" (or "with a shilling", that is, with no more than a shilling) means to disinherit.

Irish shillings

See also: Irish shilling coin

In the Republic of Ireland, the shilling was issued as scilling in Irish. They had kept the original 12d value on their shilling. It was issued until 1969, and after 1971, like the United Kingdom, the general public often used a shilling to pay 5p to shops, etc. When the Central Bank of Ireland issued a smaller 5p piece, the shilling was withdrawn in 1992. They remain, like all obsolete Irish coinage, redeemable at the Central Bank.

Australian shillings

Australian shillings, twenty of which made up one Australian pound, were first issued in 1910, with the Australian coat of arms on the reverse and King Edward VII on the face. The coat of arms design was retained through the reign of King George V until a new ram's head design was introduced for the coins of King George VI. This design continued until the last year of issue in 1963. In 1966 Australia's currency was decimalised and the shilling was replaced by a ten cent coin (Australian), where 10 shillings made up one Australian dollar.

The slang term for a shilling coin in Australia was "deener". The slang term for a shilling as currency unit was "bob", the same as in the United Kingdom.

East African shillings

The East African shilling was in use in the British colonies and protectorates of British Somaliland, Kenya, Tanganyika, Uganda and Zanzibar from 1920, when it replaced the rupee, until after those countries became independent, and in Tanzania after that country was formed by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Upon independence in 1960, the East African shilling in the Northern Region of Somalia (former British Somaliland) and the Somali Somalo in the Southern Region (former Italian Somaliland) were replaced by the Somali Shilling.^[2] In 1966 the East African Monetary Union broke up, and the member countries replaced their currencies with the Kenyan shilling, the Ugandan shilling and the Tanzanian shilling respectively.^[3] Though all these currencies have different values at present, there are plans to reintroduce the East African shilling as a new common currency by 2009.^[4]

Other countries' shillings

Shillings were also issued in Australia and New Zealand before decimalisation in the 1960s, in Austria (Schilling) until the advent of the Euro, in the Scandinavian countries (skilding) until the Scandinavian Monetary Union of 1873, and in the city of Hamburg, Germany.

The Sol (later the sou), both also derived from the Roman solidus, were the equivalent coins in France, while the (nuevo) sol (PEN) remains the currency of Peru. As in France, the Peruvian sol was originally named after the Roman solidus, but the name of the Peruvian currency is now much more closely linked to the Spanish word for the sun (sol). This helps explain the name of its temporary replacement, the inti, named for the Incan sun god.

Shillings were also used in Malta, prior to decimalization in 1972, and had a face value of five Maltese cents.

Other countries that were in the British Empire still use the term shilling or the local variant (Shillin) informally as a unit of currency among the local populace. In Vanuatu and Solomon Islands, the word "selen" (shilling) is used in Bislama and Pijin to mean "money" and in Egypt and Jordan the Shillin Arabic: (شلن) is equal to 1/20th of the Egyptian pound or the Jordanian dinar. In the United States during colonial times, British money was used, and references to shillings are often seen in early American literature.

See also

• Austrian schilling
• Australian coins
• British coinage

References

External links

• The Shilling
• British Coins - Free information about British coins. Includes an online forum.

•  • [ e] British coinage
Current circulation	One penny Two pence Five pence Ten pence Twenty pence Fifty pence One pound Two pounds
Commemorative and bullion	Twenty-five pence Five pounds Maundy money Half sovereign Sovereign Britannia
Withdrawn (decimal)	Half penny
Withdrawn (pre-decimal, selected coins)	Farthing Halfpenny Penny Threepence Sixpence One shilling Two shillings Half crown Crown Guinea
See also	Coins of the pound sterling Scottish coinage Coins of Ireland