Re: Types of numerals

Ph.D. wrote:
> R.A. Brown wrote:
> >
> > There were only 12 pence to one shilling. 11/11 is the
> > most you can have before you get to 12/- (as it used to be
> > written in the good ol' days) unless, of course, you want to
> > have ha'pennies & farthings   :)
>
> The Guinea has always seemed very odd to me. A coin worth
> one pound and one shilling? Sort of like a single coin worth
> one dollar and ten cents.
>
I spent a couple months in England in the olden days (aack 52 yrs ago!!, the
pound was around $2.80) and was also confused by the guinea, though on my
budget it didn't much matter, and I eventually figured it out. (Is the term
still used? for L 1.10?)

Worst part was figuring 10% tips.  Fortunately it wasn't a total mystery, as
my room-mate at school had spent a year in a Brit. public school and (in
spite of that) was a big anglophile, so I'd had a few lessons in how to add
L/s/d, and also knew about bob and quid, and florins and half-crowns.  Quite
a charming system, actually :-))) even if those heavy coins wore holes in my
pockets.