Great Britain:Money

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"Anglia, Scotia et Hibernia", after Mercator (Amsterdam, 1686).

Contents

great-britain-1686.jpg

History

Though fresh attempts were being made in the reign of Charles II to strenthen Britain's currency – the civil war was over, new milled coins were introduced to replace the old hammered types – these efforts did not prevent the monetary crisis of the 1680s and 1690s which saw fast decline of England's silver based currency. The gold guinea, first issued on February 6th 1663 (1662 Old Style) at a value of 20s rose to 30s in 1694; silver left the country, presumambly more stable gold was imported, causing, however, first of all a lack of money – the course of gold against silver stood roughly at 1/15.

England's currency was successfully stabilised after 1696 and introduced a hidden gold standard with the guinea fixed successfully at 21s 6d after 1698 and at 21s after 1717 – the rate at which it remained for the rest of the century.

The early 18th century saw the Union with Scottland. The pound Scots was officially abolished in 1707 (and remained a currency of account right into the 18th century), the English pound sterling became the official currency of England, Wales, Ireland and Scotland – with Ireland remaining rather a colony ruled and exploited from London, the capital where all international transactions had to be performed.

English Money

The basic unit of account was the pound sterling defined as the equivalent of 240 pennies sterling silver (containing 92.5% Silver, 7.5% copper). The value of the pound fell with the silver weight of the penny being decreased in the following historical steps:

year weight in grains weight in g Remark
8th century to c. 991 24 1.5552 traditional weight
c. 991 to c. 1275 22.5 1.458 traditional weight
c. 1275 22 1.4256
1343 20.3 1.31544
1345 20.15 1.30572
1346 20 1.296
1351 18 1.1664
1412 15 0.972
1464 12 0.7776
1526 10.7 0.69336
1544 10 0.648
1552 8 0.5184 11 oz 1 dwt fineness
1560 8 0.5184 sterling fineness
1601 7.8 0.50544
1816 7.27 0.471096

Source: Feavearyear, Appendix 3-2, p. 439

Accounts were held in pounds sterling, the pound of 20 shillings, the shilling of 12 pence. Coins were issued (from 1660 to 1715) in the following denominations – (use our special page if you have to calculate with English pre-decimal money).

Coin Value Metal Remark
5 Guinea 112s 6d in 1700 gold 1668-1753
Two Guinea 43s in 1700 gold 1664-1753
Guinea 21s 6d in 1700 gold 1663-1813
Laurel* 20s gold discontinued in 1662
Half Guinea 10s 6d gold 1669-1813
Half Laurel** 10s gold discontinued in 1662
Crown 5s silver*** continuous production
Half crown 2s 6d silver continuous production
Shilling 1s = 12d silver continuous production
Sixpence 6d silver continuous production
Groat 4d silver continuous production
Threepence 3d silver continuous production
Twopence 2d silver continuous production
Penny 1d silver continuous production
Halfpenny 1/2 d copper**** original silver coin, the production of larger copper half pennies started 1672
Farthing 1/4 d copper

* Unite Laurel Pound, also called the Sovereign or the Double Ryal,
** Half Laurel, also Half-Sovereign or Double Crown
*** some gold up to 1662

**** silver for hammered versions

Mintmarks identified the places of production: B: Bristol (September 1696 - September 1698), C: Chester (October 1696 - June 1698), E: Exeter (August 1696 - July 1698), N: Norwich (September 1696 - April 1698), Y: York (September 1696 - April 1698), and E: Edinburgh (1707-1709).

A second system of marks specified the origin of Bullion used:

Mark Origin of Bullion Period
Elephant or elephant and castle Africa 1663-1726
Plumes Wales 1698-1705
Roses West of England Mines 1699-1739 (not continuously)
VIGO Captured from the Spanish Fleet at Vigo Bay 1702 1703
Roses & plumes "Pitcoale & Seacole Company" 1705-1743
SSC South Seas Company 1723
EIC East India Company 1729-1739
LIMA Silver captured by Admiral Anson 1745-1746

Throughout the period it remained difficult to stabilise the gold/silver ratio. Isaac Newton's Mint Reports give a vivid picture of the efforts undertaken to stabilize the ratio threatened by different attitudes towards the proper evaluation of both metals on the international rivalling markets.

Scots Money

The first indigenous currency in Scotland had been the silver penny, coined by David I. In theory each pound weight of silver yielded 240 pennies (1 pound equalled 20 shillings, and 1 shilling 12 pennies). The crown coined, however, 252 pennies to the pound to make a profit. From the fourteenth century until the end of the sixteenth century debasement of the coinage resulted in the divergence of the Scottish and English currencies. In the reign of James III (1460-1488) the pound sterling was worth 4 pounds Scots. In 1560, 5 pounds Scots equalled 1 pound sterling. When James VI succeeded to the throne of England (in 1603) the exchange rate for Scots pounds to sterling was fixed at 12:1, yet prior to the Union the accepted par of exchange was £1,300 Scottish to £100 sterling,link although Newton argued in 1710link that "at their just value" it took £1,321 2s 0d Scottish to equal £100 sterling.

To quote John J. McCusker (1978), p.33 on the preceding development: The pound Scots was "showing a devaluation over the century on terms of par, but we know little about the course of the exchange. Apparently, late in the 17th century, it was usually 10 to 12 percent below par, suggesting a rate of exchange in the range of £1,450 Scottish to £100 sterling. In the midst of the English monetary crisis in 1696, the exchange reversed significantly, and the rate swung to a 15 percent premium, or something like £1,125 Scottish per £100 sterling."

After 1707 Scotland's real money and its money of account were by law uniform with those of England. Practice in this instance was slow to follow the law. "Old Scots money [...] remained a money of account, especially in the countryside, and it was not until the near the close of the eighteenth century that rents, prices of agricultural produce, and wages ceased to be expressed in Scots money." [Henry Hamilton (1963), p.294.]

Overseas transactions were after 1707 effected through London. Prior to 1707 Edinburgh had its own exchange rates on French, Spanish, Dutch, Polish and Swedish money. At least Paris seems to have kept its own exchange rate with Edinburgh right into the 1760s. [John J. McCusker (1978), p.34.]

Scotland's pre-Union money had – with merks still minted under Charles II. – its own traditions. The first merks issued after the revolution were fixed at 13s. 4d. In 1681 the rate was raised to 14s — pounds (à 20 shillings à 12 pence) were the money of account. Gold pistoles were minted in 1701. Shillings circulated in coins of 5s., 10s., 20s., 40s., and 60s.

The pistole was divided into 12 pounds, the half pistole into 6 pounds accordingly. The pound (£) had 20 shillings, the merk 14 shillings, the half merk 7 shillings, the quarter merk 3 shillings, 6 pence. A shilling had 12 pence, a bawbee 6 pence, a turner or bodle 2 pence.

Our conversion tools allow operations with changing rates, modify the entries at the bottom of each page.

Irish Money

Good information is avaliable on the web at http://www.irishcoinage.com/MILLED.HTM.

Ireland's economy was everything but independent, coinage and regulations of the foreign exchange was decided over on London. John J. McCusker gives the details for pressure exerted on the exchange rates [John J. McCusker (1978), p.34]: "England tried to limit the exchange on Ireland by legislating the par of exchange. This was accomplished through regulations, proclamations, and laws that set the value in Ireland of English and foreign coin. As early as 1487 the English shilling was valued at 16d Irish currency, for a par of £ Irish currency per £100 sterling. The same par is applied early in the seventeenth century, with a commercial bill rate of £140 quoted for 1613. A proclamation of 6 April 1637 sought to abolish the difference, but it is clear that within five years, and probably much sooner, coin in Ireland was again valued in excess of its sterling value. A proclamation of 20 January 1660/61 recognized an effective par of £105.56. This rate was reinforced twenty-two years later by another proclamation (6 June 1683) and stood as par until the important attempt to revalue Irish money, again by proclamation, on 25 March 1689. The value of the shilling in 1689 was set at 13d Irish; par, therefore, was £108.33 Irish per £100 sterling. It was moved still higher on 29 May 1695 to £116.67 and returned again to the 1689 level of £108.33 on 2 June 1701. Par was then to stay at this level until 1826, when subsequent to the union of Ireland and Great Britain, a separate Irish money ceased to exist.

Literature

  • Kleer, Richard, "The 1696 Recoinage", The Literary Encyclopedia, an online reference work for university students and scholars e-text
  • Kleer, Richard, "Bank of England founded", The Literary Encyclopedia, an online reference work for university students and scholars e-text
  • Kleer, Richard, "The South Sea Bubble", The Literary Encyclopedia, an online reference work for university students and scholars e-text
  • Elks, Ken, "Coinage of Great Britain. Celtic to Decimalisation, Part 8: Milled 1662 - 1816" (2003). e-text
  • Elks, Ken, "Coinage of Great Britain. Celtic to Decimalisation, Part 9: Provincial Token Coinage" (2003). e-text
  • Elks, Ken, "Coinage of Great Britain. Celtic to Decimalisation, Part 12: Scottish Coins" (2003). e-text
  • Holmes, Nicholas, Scottish Coins: a history of small change in Scotland (Edinburgh, 1998).
  • Stewart, I. H., The Scottish Coinage (London, 1996).
  • McCusker, John, Money and Exchange in Europe and America, 1600-1775: A Handbook (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina [for the Institute of Early American History and Culture, Williamsburg, Virginia], 1978, reissued with corrections, 1992).
  • Feavearyear, Albert, The Pound Sterling: A History of English Money, Second Edition (Oxford: University Press/ London: Clarendon Press, 1963).
  • Hamilton, Henry, An Economic History of Scotland in the Eighteenth Century (Oxford, 1963).
  • Israel, Falgate, Tables of Interest for All Rates and Time with the Dayly Income of Annual Sums from One Pound to One Hundred Thousands Pounds p. Annum and the Amount of Rents, Sallarys and Pensions from One Pound to Two Thousand Five Hundred Pounds a Year and Upwards Exactly Computed to the Tenth Part of a Penny by Israel Falgate at Bank of England (London, 1700).
  • Fryth, Richard, A Probable Calculation of the Moneys: Which May be Raised by a Tax on Plate in this Kingdom: as also of the Annual Income to His Majesty, to be Raised by a Tax on Hats (London, 1700).