the florin, two shillings (2/–), which adopted the value of 10 new pence (10p) at decimalisation.Three coins denominated in multiple shillings were also in circulation at this time. Shillings remained in circulation until the five pence coin was reduced in size in 1991. This set the weight of the shilling at 87.2727 grains or 5.655 grams from 1816 until 1990, when it was demonetised in favour of a new smaller 5p coin of the same value.Īt decimalisation in 1971, the shilling coin was superseded by the new five-pence piece, which initially was of identical size and weight and had the same value. During the Great Recoinage of 1816 (following the Acts of Union 1800 that united the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland), the mint was instructed to coin one troy pound (weighing 5760 grains or 373 g) of sterling silver (0.925 fine) into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations.

The common currency for Great Britain, created in 1707 by Article 16 of the Articles of Union between England and Scotland, continued in use until decimalisation in 1971. The English (later British) shilling continued to be minted as a silver coin until 1946. īy the 17th century, further devaluation resulted in schillings in the Holy Roman Empire being minted in billon (majority base metal content) instead of silver, with 48 schillings to one Reichsthaler. The English shilling was the continuation of the testoon coin under Edward VI and was first minted in 1551 minted in 92.5% 'sterling' silver. In the 16th century, numerous different types of schilling were minted in Europe. In the late medieval period, states of the Holy Roman Empire began minting similar silver coins of multiple pfennig weight, some of them denominated as schilling. These heavier coins were valued at between 4 and 20 of the silver denarii.

In the 12th century, larger silver coins of multiple pfennig weight were minted, known as denarii grossi or groschen ( groats). There were, however, no silver schilling coins in the Carolingian period, and gold schillings (equivalent to twelve silver pfennigs) were very rare. One schilling had 12 denarii or deniers ('pennies'). The schilling was one-twentieth of a pound or about 20.3 grams of silver. In 796, Charlemagne passed a monetary reform, based on the Carolingian silver pound (about 406.5 grams). The Anglo-Saxon scillingas of the 7th century were still small gold coins. In origin, the word schilling designated the solidus of Late Antiquity, the gold coin that replaced the aureus in the 4th century. The word shilling comes from Old English 'Scilling', a monetary term meaning twentieth of a pound, from the Proto-Germanic root skiljaną meaning 'to separate, split, divide', from (s)kelH- meaning 'to cut, split.' The word 'Scilling' is mentioned in the earliest recorded Germanic law codes, those of Æthelberht of Kent. 1551 Schilling coin of the imperial city of Zürich, minted in billon, 1640 Silver 4 schilling coin, Hamburg, 1728 The East African Community additionally plans to introduce an East African shilling.įurther information: Coinage in Anglo-Saxon England and Denarius English shilling minted under Edward VI, c. The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of a pound before being phased out during the 1960s and 1970s.Ĭurrently the shilling is used as a currency in five east African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, as well as the de facto country of Somaliland. ( Learn how and when to remove this template message)Ī 1933 UK shilling 1956 Elizabeth II UK shilling showing English and Scottish reverses

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