Monetary timeline

2026

GBP · Definitive designs

United Kingdom

The pound before and after Decimal Day—official units, named denominations and slang shown as related but distinct vocabularies.

Currency ontology

One pound sterling

Currency relationships shown for 2026

£2Two pounds2 × £1 £1One poundthe pound unit 50pFifty pence2 make one pound 20pTwenty pence5 make one pound 10pTen pence10 make one pound 5pFive pence20 make one pound 2pTwo pence50 make one pound 1pOne penny100 make one pound

Vocabulary mapNames, denominations and slang

British money has three overlapping vocabularies: official units, named coin denominations, and everyday nicknames. They are related, but they are not interchangeable.

£sd£ · s · dsystem: £1 = 20s = 240dThe pre-1971 system: pounds, shillings and old pence. One shilling was 12d. The letters descend from libra, solidus and denarius.
Pound sterling£1system: 20s before 1971 · 100p todayThe monetary unit, not inherently a coin. Britain counted in pounds for centuries before introducing the modern circulating £1 coin in 1983.
Shilling1sdenomination: 12d · 1/20 pound · 5p arithmeticallyAn official unit of account and an actual coin—not slang. Old shilling coins became worth 5p on Decimal Day and remained legal tender until 1990.
Old penny · new penny1d · 1psystem: 1d = 1/240 pound · 1p = 1/100 poundThe word penny survived Decimal Day, but its fraction of a pound changed. The d notation always means pre-decimal pence; p means decimal pence.
Crown5sdenomination: 60d · 1/4 pound · 25p arithmeticallyA real, large coin denomination, increasingly used for commemoratives rather than daily change. The modern £5 commemorative coin inherits the crown name.
Florin2sdenomination: 24d · 1/10 pound · 10p arithmeticallyA two-shilling coin introduced in 1849 as an intentional step toward decimal currency.
Guinea£1 1saccounting: 21s · £1.05 arithmeticallyFirst a gold coin, fixed at 21 shillings in 1717. After the coin disappeared, the amount-name survived in fees, luxury prices and auctions.
Sovereign£1denomination: 20s · one poundA gold coin worth exactly one pound. Sovereign names a coin; pound names the monetary unit.
Quid · bob · tanner£1 · 1s · 6dcolloquial: pound · shilling · sixpenceThese are the nicknames: quid for a pound, bob for a shilling, and tanner for a sixpence.

Bank of England £sd guide

Quick reference

Last circulation gold

Sovereign: 1932

Quick reference

Last circulation silver

Crown: 1946
Half crown: 1946
Florin: 1946
Shilling: 1946
Sixpence: 1946
Threepence: 1944

2026 circulation map

8 denominations

The Royal Mint source

8 value records · 8 specifications · 0 image sets

£2

Two pounds

2 × £1

1998–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 12 g
Diameter: 28.4 mm
Edge: Milled and lettered

CompositionCopper-nickel centre · nickel-brass ring

£1

One pound

the pound unit

1983–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 8.75 g
Diameter: 23.43 mm
Thickness: 2.8 mm
Edge: Milled

CompositionNickel-plated alloy centre · nickel-brass ring

50p

Fifty pence

2 make one pound

1969–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 8 g
Diameter: 27.3 mm
Thickness: 1.78 mm
Edge: Plain, seven-sided

CompositionCopper-nickel

20p

Twenty pence

5 make one pound

1982–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 5 g
Diameter: 21.4 mm
Thickness: 1.7 mm
Edge: Plain, seven-sided

CompositionCopper-nickel

10p

Ten pence

10 make one pound

1968–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 6.5 g
Diameter: 24.5 mm
Thickness: 2.07 mm
Edge: Milled

CompositionNickel-plated steel

Five pence

20 make one pound

1968–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 3.25 g
Diameter: 18 mm
Thickness: 1.96 mm
Edge: Milled

CompositionNickel-plated steel

Two pence

50 make one pound

1971–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 7.12 g
Diameter: 25.91 mm
Thickness: 2.03 mm
Edge: Plain

CompositionCopper-plated steel

One penny

100 make one pound

1971–present

2026

No sourced obverse and reverse pair is cataloged for this era yet.

Weight: 3.56 g
Diameter: 20.32 mm
Thickness: 1.65 mm
Edge: Plain

CompositionCopper-plated steel