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Re: Types of numerals

From:Roger Mills <rfmilly@...>
Date:Thursday, January 5, 2006, 18:43
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.