How to decimalise the Pound Sterling

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
There was a suggestion to decimalise the Pound Sterling in the 1840's. A one man suggestion, mind you.
As there were 960 Farthings to the Pound, he suggested rounding it to 1000 Farthings and working one way's from there.
Would such a 4% change in value be very disruptive?
Or would it be better to use the Guinea as base.
It divides into 21 Shillings = 252 Pence = 1040 Farthing.
Here the rounding would be a change of 0,4%. Better?
Thougths?
 
There was a proposal to introduce a new coin called the "mill", which was 1/1000th of a pound, and would effectively replace the farthing. However, it never came to anything IOTL.

The pound's value was rather higher (relatively) during this period compared to the present, due to several devaluations, so it might make more sense to do this ITTL.
 

TruthfulPanda

Gone Fishin'
There was a proposal to introduce a new coin called the "mill", which was 1/1000th of a pound, and would effectively replace the farthing. However, it never came to anything IOTL.
The pound's value was rather higher (relatively) during this period compared to the present, due to several devaluations, so it might make more sense to do this ITTL.
Yes, it is the "Pound and Mill" that I had been thinking about.
Would a Pound divisable into a hundred somethings - Marks? Groats? - which in turn would divide into ten Farthings make things easier?
 
I think florin is the way to go here as a gateway. At two shillings, it is 1/10 of the pound, and we know it worked and was accepted when introduced. Though the name might have to go, as we are already facing prejudice of modifying the British monetary system and cries and charges of treason and xenophilia will fill the air. Then you create a new coin that is worth 1/100th of a pound: an imperial.

Once the switch from pound/shilling/pence to pound/florin/imperial has been done and all is well, you can then stop referring to florins as anything but a coin and start treating currency as just the pound and imperial.
 
Any hundredth of a pound would be a fifth of a shilling, there being 20 shillings to the pound, or a tenth of a florin which was a common name for a 2 shilling coin from the Victorian era.
The florin was named after the similar sized/worth dutch florin or guilder and was part of the aforementioned decimalisation attempt.
As for the new penny I'm at a loss for the name that isn't new penny or cent. Perhaps named for whatever mark they'd put there.
 
So, which route better:
1 - Pound = 10 Florins = 100 Farthings
2 - Pound = 100 Whatevers = 10 Farthings
3 - Pound = 10 Florins = 100 Sesterces* = 1.000 Mills (formerly Farthings)

*worth 2 1/2 pence, of which there are now 250 per pound, therefore the name

So as not having to strike too many new coins Pennies will continue to circulate until being phased out by 5 Mill coins.
 
There was a suggestion to decimalise the Pound Sterling in the 1840's. A one man suggestion, mind you.
As there were 960 Farthings to the Pound, he suggested rounding it to 1000 Farthings and working one way's from there.
Would such a 4% change in value be very disruptive?
Or would it be better to use the Guinea as base.
It divides into 21 Shillings = 252 Pence = 1040 Farthing.
Here the rounding would be a change of 0,4%. Better?
Thougths?
While using the Guinea as a base would result in a significantly smaller change in value for any couns smaller than the Shilling (0,4% up instead of 4% down) and would thus not cause negative reactions of the lower classes ("They are stealing what little we have") there's a different problem, namely that with 21 Shillings / 10 1/2 Florins per Guinea you'd either have to withdraw those coins immediately since they don't fit into the decimal system and replace them with new 50 and 100 Mill coins or change their value (5% down) which would no doubt trigger an even more negative reaction from the lower classes since even poorer people had more money in Shillings and Florins in their purses than in Farthings, Halfpence, Pennies, Threepence and Sixpence coins.
 
Why decimilise?
I'm actually being serious!
£sd taught using different bases and mental agility. Decimilisation encourages laziness. Nobody had any real problems with the old system. As a by-product I'm sure that it increased inflation in the 70s as prices rose by 5p or 10p instead of 1d or 6d.
(I know that this view will surprise any who got used to using money since 1971 but I'm fed up of 0.4 hours being turned into 40 minutes:mad:)
 
Why decimilise?
I'm actually being serious!
£sd taught using different bases and mental agility. Decimilisation encourages laziness. Nobody had any real problems with the old system. As a by-product I'm sure that it increased inflation in the 70s as prices rose by 5p or 10p instead of 1d or 6d.
(I know that this view will surprise any who got used to using money since 1971 but I'm fed up of 0.4 hours being turned into 40 minutes:mad:)
The automation of book keeping made it inevitable, accounting programs back then were, since they came from the US, unable to cope with £sd. And the inflation of the 70's had little to do with decimalisation, in countries that had decimal currencies before, inflation did also skyrocket, it was an after-effect of the oil price shock of 1973 and of the excessive pay rises the trade unions were able to push through before Margaret Thatcher managed to cut back their power in the 80's.
 
Plantegenet Palliser was working on the problem as Chancellor of the Exchequer in the novels by Trollope, written in the 1870s
 
3 - Pound = 10 Florins = 100 Sesterces* = 1.000 Mills (formerly Farthings)

*worth 2 1/2 pence, of which there are now 250 per pound, therefore the name

So as not having to strike too many new coins Pennies will continue to circulate until being phased out by 5 Mill coins.
Ooh nice, though I see "sesterce" being vulgarised to "sister". Perhaps the Mint will do so deliberately? "Cista" or "cistern" perhaps with a chest symbol on the coin?
 
Top