Theshilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of moderncurrencies formerly used in theUnited Kingdom,Australia,New Zealand, otherBritish Commonwealth countries andIreland, where they were generally equivalent to 12pence or one-twentieth of apound before being phased out during the 1960s and 1970s.
Currently the shilling is used as a currency in five east African countries:Kenya,Tanzania,Uganda,Somalia, and thede facto country ofSomaliland.[1] TheEast African Community additionally plans to introduce anEast African shilling.
The wordshilling comes fromAnglo-Saxon phrase "Scilling", a monetary term meaning literally "twentieth of a pound", from theProto-Germanic rootskiljaną meaning literally "to separate, split, divide", from(s)kelH- meaning "to cut, split."[citation needed] The word "Scilling" is mentioned in the earliest recordedGermanic law codes, theLaw of Æthelberht (c. 600).[citation needed]
In origin, the wordschilling designated thesolidus of Late Antiquity, thegold coin that replaced theaureus in the 4th century. The Anglo-Saxonscillingas of the 7th century were still small gold coins.[citation needed]
In 796,Charlemagne passed a monetary reform, based on the Carolingian silver pound (about 406.5 grams). Theschilling was one-twentieth of a pound or about 20.3 grams of silver. Oneschilling had 12denarii ordeniers ("pennies"). There were, however, no silverschilling coins in the Carolingian period, and goldschillings (equivalent to twelve silverpfennigs) were very rare.[citation needed]
In the 12th century, larger silver coins of multiplepfennig weight were minted, known asdenarii grossi orgroschen (groats). These heavier coins were valued at between 4 and 20 of the silverdenarii. In the late medieval period, states of theHoly Roman Empire began minting similar silver coins of multiplepfennig weight, some of them denominated asschilling.[citation needed]
In the 16th century, numerous different types ofschilling were minted inEurope. TheEnglish shilling was a successor of the testoon coin first minted during the reign ofEdward VI in 1551, which consisted of 92.5% "sterling" silver.[citation needed]
By the 17th century, further devaluation resulted inschillings in theHoly Roman Empire being minted inbillon (majority base metal content) instead ofsilver, with 48schillings to oneReichsthaler. The English (later British) shilling continued to be minted as a silver coin until 1946, although the silver content was debased from 1920 onwards.[citation needed]
| Countries | Currency | ISO 4217 code |
|---|---|---|
 Kenya | Kenyan shilling | KES |
 Somalia | Somali shilling | SOS |
 Tanzania | Tanzanian shilling | TZS |
 Uganda | Ugandan shilling | UGX |
| Countries | Currency | ISO 4217 code |
|---|---|---|
 Somaliland | Somaliland shilling | SOS |
A shilling was a coin used in England from the reign ofHenry VII[2] (orEdward VI around 1550). The shilling continued in use after theActs of Union of 1707 created a new United Kingdom from the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and under Article 16 of the Articles of Union, a common currency for the new United Kingdom was created.
The termshilling (Scots:schilling) was in use in Scotland from early medieval times.
The common currency forGreat Britain, created in 1707 by Article 16 of theArticles of Union between England and Scotland, continued in use untildecimalisation in 1971. During theGreat Recoinage of 1816 (following theActs of Union 1800 that united the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland), the mint was instructed to coin onetroy pound (weighing 5760 grains or 373 g) ofsterling silver (0.925 fine) into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations.[citation needed] This set the weight of the shilling at 87.2727 grains or 5.655 grams from 1816 until 1990, when it wasdemonetised in favour of a new smaller5p coin of the same value.
At decimalisation in 1971, the shilling coin was superseded by thenew five-pence piece, which initially was of identical size and weight and had the same value. Shillings remained in circulation until the five pence coin was reduced in size in 1991.
Three coins denominated in multiple shillings were also in circulation at this time. They were:
Between 1701 and the unification of the currencies in 1825, theIrish shilling was valued at 13 pence and known as the "black hog", as opposed to the 12-pence English shillings which were known as "white hogs".[3]
In theIrish Free State andRepublic of Ireland, theshilling coin was issued asscilling (theIrish language equivalent). It was worth 1/20 of anIrish pound, and was interchangeable at the same value to the British coin, which continued to be used inNorthern Ireland. The coin featured a bull on the reverse side. The first minting, from 1928 until 1941, contained 75% silver, more than the equivalent British coin. The pre-decimal Irish shilling coin (which was retained for some time after decimalisation) was withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1993, when a smaller five-pence coin was introduced.
One abbreviation for shilling iss (forsolidus, see£sd). Often it was expressed by asolidus symbol (/) (which may have begun as a substitute forſ ('long s')[4]) thus '1/9' means "one shilling and ninepence". A price expressed as a number of shillings with no additionalpence was often written as the number, a solidus and a dash: thus for example ten shillings was written '10/-'. Two shillings and sixpence (half a crown, or an eighth of a £) was written as '2/6', rarely as '2s 6d' ('d' being the abbreviation fordenarius, a penny). The shilling itself was equal to twelve pence. In the traditionalpounds, shillings and pence system, there were 20 shillings per pound and 12 pence per shilling, making 240 pence in a pound.
Slang terms for the old shilling coins include "bob" and "hog". While the derivation of "bob" is uncertain,John Camden Hotten in his 1864Slang Dictionary says the original version was "bobstick" and speculates that it may be connected withSir Robert Walpole.[5]
Australian shillings, twenty of which made up oneAustralian pound, were first issued in 1910, with the Australiancoat of arms on the reverse and KingEdward VII on the face. The coat of arms design was retained through the reign of KingGeorge V until a new ram's head design was introduced for the coins of KingGeorge VI. This design continued until the last year of issue in 1963. In 1966, Australia's currency wasdecimalised and the shilling was replaced by aten cent coin (Australian), where 10 shillings made up oneAustralian dollar.
The slang term for a shilling coin in Australia was "deener". The slang term for a shilling as currency unit was "bob", the same as in theUnited Kingdom.
After 1966, shillings continued to circulate, as they were replaced by ten-cent coins of the same size and weight.
New Zealand shillings, twenty of which made up oneNew Zealand pound, were first issued in 1933 and featured the image of a Maori warrior carrying a taiaha "in a warlike attitude" on the reverse.[6] In 1967, New Zealand's currency wasdecimalised and the shilling was replaced by a ten-cent coin of the same size and weight. Ten-cent coins minted through the remainder of the 1960s included the legend "ONE SHILLING" on the reverse. Smaller ten-cent coins were introduced in 2006.
The shilling (Maltese:xelin, pl.xelini) was used inMalta, prior todecimalisation in 1972, and had a face value of five Maltesecents.
InBritish Ceylon, a shilling (Sinhala:Silima,Tamil:Silin) was equivalent to eightfanams. With the replacement of therixdollar by therupee in 1852, a shilling was deemed to be equivalent to half a rupee. On the decimalisation of the currency in 1969, a shilling was deemed to be equivalent to 50 Ceylon cents. The term continued to be used colloquially until the late 20th century.[7]
TheEast African shilling was in use in theBritishcolonies andprotectorates ofBritish Somaliland,Kenya,Tanganyika,Uganda andZanzibar from 1920, when it replaced therupee, until after those countries became independent, and inTanzania after that country was formed by the merger of Tanganyika and Zanzibar in 1964. Upon independence in 1960, the East African shilling in theBritish Somaliland and theSomali somalo in theTrust Territory of Somalia were replaced by theSomali shilling.[8]
In 1966, the East African Monetary Union broke up, and the member countries replaced their currencies with theKenyan shilling, theUgandan shilling and theTanzanian shilling, respectively.[9] Though all these currencies have different values at present, there were plans to reintroduce theEast African shilling as a new common currency by 2009,[10] although this has not come about.
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In thethirteen British colonies that became the United States in 1776, British money was often in circulation. Each colony issued itsown paper money, withpounds, shillings, and pence used as the standardunits of account. Some coins were minted in the colonies, such asthe pine tree shilling in theMassachusetts Bay Colony. After the United States adopted thedollar as its unit of currency and accepted thegold standard, one British shilling was worth 24 UScents. Due to ongoing shortages of US coins in some regions, shillings continued to circulate well into the nineteenth century. Shillings are described as the standard monetary unit throughout the autobiography ofSolomon Northup (1853)[11] and mentioned several times in theHoratio Alger Jr. storyRagged Dick (1868).[12][13] Prices in an 1859 advertisement in a Chicago newspaper were given in dollars and shillings.[14]
InBritish North America, £sd currencies were in use both during the French period (New France livre) and after theBritish conquest (Canadian pound). Between the 1760s and 1840s inLower Canada, both French and British-based pounds coexisted as units of account, the French livre being close in value to the British shilling. A variety of coinage circulated. By 1858, a decimalCanadian dollar came into use in theProvince of Canada. Other parts of British North America decimalized shortly afterwards andCanadian Confederation in 1867 passed control of currency to the federal government.
The Somali shilling is the officialcurrency ofSomalia. It is subdivided into 100cents (English),senti (Somali, also سنت) orcentesimi (Italian).
The Somali shilling has been the currency of parts of Somalia since 1921, when theEast African shilling was introduced to the formerBritish Somalilandprotectorate. Following independence in 1960, thesomalo ofItalian Somaliland and the East African shilling (which were equal in value) were replaced at par in 1962 by the Somali shilling. Names used for the denominations were cent, centesimo (plural: centesimi) and سنت (plurals: سنتيمات and سنتيما) together with shilling, scellino (plural: scellini) and شلن.
That same year, theBanca Nazionale Somala issued notes for 5, 10, 20 and 100 scellini/shillings. In 1975, theBankiga Qaranka Soomaaliyeed (Somali National Bank) introduced notes for 5, 10, 20 and 100 shilin/shillings. These were followed in 1978 by notes of the same denominations issued by theBankiga Dhexe Ee Soomaaliya (Central Bank of Somalia). 50 shilin/shillings notes were introduced in 1983, followed by 500 shilin/shillings in 1989 and 1000 shilin/shillings in 1990. Also in 1990 there was an attempt to reform the currency at 100 to 1, with new banknotes of 20 and 50 new shilin prepared for the redenomination.[15]
Following the breakdown in central authority that accompanied thecivil war, which began in the early 1990s, the value of the Somali shilling was disrupted. The Central Bank of Somalia, the nation's monetary authority, also shut down operations. Rival producers of the local currency, including autonomous regional entities such as theSomaliland territory, subsequently emerged.
Somalia's newly establishedTransitional Federal Government revived the defunct Central Bank of Somalia in the late 2000s. In terms of financial management, the monetary authority is in the process of assuming the task of both formulating and implementing monetary policy.[16] Owing to a lack of confidence in the Somali shilling, the US dollar is widely accepted as a medium of exchange alongside the Somali shilling.Dollarization notwithstanding, the large issuance of the Somali shilling has increasingly fueled price hikes, especially for low value transactions. This inflationary environment, however, is expected to come to an end as soon as the Central Bank assumes full control of monetary policy and replaces the presently circulating currency introduced by the private sector.[16]
TheSomaliland shilling is the official currency ofSomaliland, a self-declared republic that is internationally recognised as anautonomous region ofSomalia.[17] The currency is not recognised aslegal tender by the international community, and it currently has no officialexchange rate. It is regulated by theBank of Somaliland, Somaliland'scentral bank. Although the authorities in Somaliland have attempted to bar usage of the Somali shilling, Somalia's official currency is still in circulation in some regions.[18][better source needed]
Elsewhere in the former British Empire, forms of the wordshilling remain in informal use.InVanuatu andSolomon Islands,selen is used inBislama andPijin to mean "money"; inMalaysia,syiling (pronounced likeshilling) means "coin". InEgypt andJordan theshillin (Arabic:شلن) is equal to 1/20 (fiveqirshes —Arabic:قرش, English:piastres) of theEgyptian pound or theJordanian dinar. InBelize, the termshilling is commonly used to refer to twenty-five cents.
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