Shilling
The shilling was a British coin first issued in 1548 for Henry VIII, although arguably the testoon issued about 1487 for Henry VII was the first shilling.
History
Shillings had a value of 12
pence; equal to one-twentieth of a pound.
The name shilling is believed to come from old Scandinavian skilling, meaning a mark on a stick.
The abbreviation for shilling is "s.", from the Latin solidus.
A slang name for a shilling was a bob (which was always singular, as in "ten bob note"; "that cost me two bob").
To take the King's shilling was to enlist in the army or navy.
Withdrawal
The last shillings issued for circulation were dated
1966, although proofs were issued as part of a collectors set dated
1970. From
1968 new
decimal coins, "five new pence" with the same weight and specifications, started to replace shillings. They were finally withdrawn in
1990, when a new, smaller, five pence coin was reduced.
Irish shillings
In
Ireland, the shilling was issued as 'scilling' in Irish Gaelic. They had kept the original 12-pence value on their shilling. It was issued until 1969, and after 1971, like Britain, the general public often used a shilling to pay 5-pences to shops, etc. When the Central Bank of Ireland issued a smaller five-pence piece, the shilling was finally demonitised in 1992
Other countries' shillings
Shillings were also issued in
Australia and
New Zealand before
decimalisation in the 1960s, in
Austria (schillings) until the advent of the
Euro, and in the Scandinavian countries
(skilding) until the
Scandinavian Monetary Union of
1873. Shillings remain the basic currency unit of
Kenya,
Uganda, and
Tanzania.
See also
Other meanings
Shilling is also a fraudulent way of bididng in an
auction.
