£sd (occasionally writtenLsd^[a]) is the popular name for the pre-decimalcurrencies once common throughout Europe. The abbreviation originates from theLatin currency denominationslibrae,solidi, anddenarii.^[1] Under this system, there were 12denarii in asolidus and 20solidi (or 240denarii) in alibra. In the countries of the (former)British Empire, these were calledpounds,shillings, andpence (pence being the plural ofpenny), with 12 pence in a shilling and 20 shillings in a pound.

Although the names originated from popular coins in the classicalRoman Empire, their definitions and the ratios between them were introduced and imposed across Western Europe by EmperorCharlemagne. KingOffa of Mercia adopted the Frankish silver standard oflibrae,solidi, anddenarii into Britain in the late 8th century.^[2]

The £sd system was the standard across much of the European continent for over a thousand years, until thedecimalisations of the 18th and 19th centuries. The United Kingdom remained one of the few countries retaining it into the 20th century, resulting in the system becoming particularly associated with Britain. For much of the 20th century, £sd remained the monetary notation of most countries in the (former) British Empire – with the exceptions ofCanada andIndia – until the 1960s and 1970s, withNigeria being the last to abandon it in the form of theNigerian pound on 1 January 1973.

Historically, similar systems based onRoman coinage were used elsewhere; e.g., the division of thelivre tournois inFrance and otherpre-decimal currencies such asSpain, which had 20maravedís to 1real and 20reales to 1duro or 5pesetas.^[3]

The classicalRoman Empire originally used a decimal currency system based on the "as" whereby 1denarius = 10asses. The silverdenarius was the common circulation coin, but accounting was insestercii. Later Roman Emperors undertook multiple coinage reforms, redefining weights and coins' relative values and introducing new coins and new accounting systems for them. Since most reforms were not even completed before the next one began, the late Roman Empire had a veritable mess of multiple overlapping systems of weights and currencies.

Around the 780s, the Frankish emperorCharlemagne cut through the mess by creating a new uniform system. He defined the "libra" as a new measure of weight equivalent to around 408 g (14.4 oz)^[4][b] (substantially larger than the oldRoman pound of 328.9 g (11.60 oz)), and ordered 240 silver units known asdenarii to be struck from the newCarolingian pound of pure silver, eachdenarius containing 22.5 grains (1.46 g) of silver. To help accounting, Charlemagne also decreed that the pound was divisible into 20solidi, each of 12denarii. Thus began theCarolingian monetary system (1l. = 20s. = 240d.).

The new coinage and accounting system was imposed uniformly across the vastCarolingian Empire and also infiltrated countries on its periphery. In the late 8th century, KingOffa of Mercia imported the system into Britain to facilitate transactions (notably "Peter's pence") with theRoman Catholic Church (which used the Carolingian coinage system). But it was not the sole system in Britain – the £sd system would have to compete for a while with theViking "mark" accounting system, introduced intoDanelaw regions. Although £sd ultimately prevailed in Britain, the "mark of account" system lingered on inNorth Sea trade and areas ofHanseatic influence through much of the Middle Ages.

Charlemagne's new monetary system prevailed across much of Western Europe including France (where the units were known as thelivre,sous anddenier), Italy (lira,soldo anddenaro), the Holy Roman Empire (pfund,schilling andpfennig) and in England (pound,shilling andpenny). The English namepound is aGermanic adaptation of the Latin phraselibra pondo 'a pound weight'.^[6] On the Iberian peninsula, the Kingdom of Aragon adopted the Carolingian monetary system (Catalan:lliura,sou anddiners), but those of Portugal and Castile (and subsequently Spain) retained the currency system inherited fromal-Andalus.

During the early Middle Ages, only thedenarius (denier) was issued as an actual coin; the libra and solidus were merelyunits of account. But over time, Europe's silver resources were gradually exhausted and the coins became repeatedlydebased by mediaeval monarchs, prompting the minting of larger coins from the 13th century. It also led to specification of currencies by mint of origin in contracts and accounting (e.g. adenier parisis, of the Paris mint, contained more actual silver than the very debaseddenier tournois of Tours).

To facilitate larger transactions, gold coins began to be minted in western Europe around the same time. TheFrench franc, introduced in 1360, was the first coin anywhere to represent exactly £1 and the gold "sovereign", first minted in 1489, was the first English £1 coin.

Although the £sd system remained intact in ledger accounting, the variety of new coins of various multiples and qualities led to common expression of quantities in terms of number of coins (guineas, crowns, farthings, etc.) But they would all have to be converted into formal £sd units in accounts.

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The £sd system continued in much of Western Europe for nearly a thousand years, until the "decimalisations" of the 18th and 19th centuries. Britain considered following the continental example. A parliamentary select committee was set up in 1821 to inquire into decimalisation, but ended up recommending retaining the £sd system. However, pressure groups were formed inside Britain advocating the adoption of decimalisation of the currency, and Parliament returned to the matter in the 1850s. Various decimalisation schemes were considered – the Pound-and-Mil scheme, the Farthing scheme, the Half-penny scheme, the Alb scheme, etc. – but all were determined to have deficiencies, and transition would be too difficult and expensive. The £sd system was maintained in Britain until 1971.

As countries of theBritish Empire became independent, some abandoned the £sd system quickly, while others retained it almost as long as the UK itself. The United States of America was among the first to drop the £sd system and adopt a decimal currency in 1792, 10 years after independence from the British Empire, but retains many other aspects of thecustomary units for length and weight. Australia, on the other hand, only changed to using a decimal currency on 14 February 1966. New Zealand did so on 10 July 1967. Still others, notablyIreland,decimalised only when the UK did. The UK abandoned the old penny onDecimal Day, 15 February 1971, when onepound sterling became divided into 100new pence. This was a change from the system used in the earlier wave of decimalisations in Australia,New Zealand,Rhodesia andSouth Africa, in which the pound was replaced with a new major currency called either the "dollar" or the "rand". The Britishshilling was replaced by a5 new pence coin worth one-twentieth of a pound. In Europe, decimalisation of currency (as well as other weights and measures) began inRevolutionary France with the law of 1795 ("Loi du 18 germinal an III", 7 April 1795), replacing the £sd accounting system of theAncien régime with a system of 1 franc = 10 decimes = 100 centimes. Decimalisation was carried by French armies to neighboring European countries during theNapoleonic wars. By the mid-19th century, most of continental Europe had decimalised, leaving theUnited Kingdom as the only major country to continue to maintain the £sd system.

All countries and territories that formerly used the £sd system have nowdecimalised their currency, with most decimalisations occurring after theSecond World War.Malta decimalised its currency in 1972, whileNigeria decimalised in 1973. The Britishpound sterling andIrish pound were among the last to be decimalised, on15 February 1971.

In places where £sd was used, there were several approaches to decimalisation:

• The pound remained the base unit (in Malta, using the Maltese name "lira"), but was subdivided into new fractional units of1⁄100 of a pound. The new fractional unit (called the "new penny" in the UK andIreland and the "cent" inMalta) was worth 2.4 old pence. Malta also created a fractional unit worth1⁄1000 of a pound, called the "mil", worth slightly less than a farthing (0.24 old pence).
• A new base unit (often called the "dollar") was created equal to ten shillings (half a pound), and subdivided into 100 fractional units, with one fractional unit (usually called the "cent") equal to1⁄10 of a shilling or 1.2 old pence. This was the approach adopted inSouth Africa (as the Rand),Australia,New Zealand,Jamaica,Fiji and many other countries.
• A new base unit called the "dollar" was created at parity with theUnited States dollar. This was done inCanada in 1858 and in many places in theWest Indies in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. InBermuda in 1970, as the pound was fixed at US$2.40 i.e. US$1 = 100d., this made the new Bermudian dollar equal to exactly 100 old pence, with the new cent equal to one old penny.
• Some countries have adopted alternative approaches, such asGhana, which created a new base unit equal to 100 old pence (not equal to the U.S. dollar), with a fractional unit equal to one old penny,Bahamas, which adopted a new base unit equal to seven shillings, with a fractional unit equal to 0.84 old pence, andThe Gambia, which created a new base unit equal to four shillings, with a fractional unit equal to 0.48 old pence.

New unit	New unit / old unit	New unit in £sd	Old unit	Year
South African rand	0.5	10/–	South African pound	1961
Sierra Leonean leone	0.5	10/–	British West African pound	1964
Ghanaian cedi	0.4167	8/4 = 100d.	Ghanaian pound	1965
Australian dollar	0.5	10/–	Australian pound	1966
Bahamian dollar	0.35	7/–	Bahamian pound	1966
New Zealand dollar	0.5	10/–	New Zealand pound	1967
Western Samoan tala	0.5	10/–	Western Samoan pound	1967
Tongan paʻanga	0.5	10/–	Tongan pound	1967
Zambian kwacha	0.5	10/–	Zambian pound	1968
Jamaican dollar	0.5	10/–	Jamaican pound	1969
Fijian dollar	0.5	10/–	Fijian pound	1969
Rhodesian dollar	0.5	10/–	Rhodesian pound	1970
Bermudian dollar	0.4167	8/4 = 100d.	Bermudian pound	1970
Gambian dalasi	0.2	4/–	Gambian pound	1971
Malawian kwacha	0.5	10/–	Malawian pound	1971
Irish pound	1	£1	Irish pound	1971
Pound stg.	1	£1	Pound stg.	1971
Maltese lira	1	£M 1	Maltese pound	1972
Nigerian naira	0.5	10/–	Nigerian pound	1973
This table is not exhaustive.

The following table shows the conversion rates of common denominations of coins of the £sd systems. The⁠1/2⁠d, 1d and 3d coins were all demonetised on decimalisation; in the UK and Ireland, the 6d (as 2⁠1/2⁠p) continued in use until demonetised subsequently.

The following coins were not in common circulation in the UK at the time of decimalisation, though the ten shilling note and the pound note were.

Thehalf crown might have continued in use as 12⁠1/2⁠p but had already been demonetised.

Thepenny was subdivided into 4farthings (⁠1/4⁠d) until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender in the UK and Ireland. Until 31 July 1969, there was also ahalfpenny (⁠1/2⁠d) in circulation. The last £sd coins to cease being legal tender in the UK after Decimal Day were the sixpence (withdrawn 1980), the shilling (withdrawn 1991) and the florin (withdrawn 1993). Commemorative crowns minted post decimalisation (worth either 25p or £5) are still legal tender, but are rarely, if ever, spent.

The last £sd banknote to cease to be legal tender anywhere was the Isle of Man ten shilling note, which ceased to be legal tender there in 2013.^[7]

Computers and calculators sold pre-decimalisation – mostly in the 1960s – occasionally came with special support for the £sd system in the form of afixed-point currency datatype. TheIBM 1401 is one such machine; on Sterling models with £sd support, it had a switch for selecting between IBM andBSI data layouts of £sd on its auxiliary console (see image). TheICT 1301 and thePL/I language^[8] also had £sd support.

In the UK, there were several ways to represent amounts of money in writing and speech, with no formal convention; for example:

• £317s.⁠10+1/2⁠d. : three pounds, seventeen shillings, and ten-and-a-half pence)[9]
• £2/3/6 (two pounds, three shillings and sixpence), spoken, unless there was cause to be punctilious, "two pound(s), three and six". Whether "pound" or "pounds" was used depended upon the speaker, varying with class, region and context.
• ⁠1/2⁠d (a coin): as spoken, thelf inhalfpenny andhalfpence was always silent; they were pronounced "hayp'ny"/ˈheɪpni/^[10] and "haypence"/ˈheɪpəns/^[10][11] – hence the occasional spellingsha'penny andha'pence).
• ⁠1+1/2⁠d (a penny halfpenny, three halfpence).
• 2d: two pence, commonly spoken astuppence.
• 3d (three pence, a coin), commonly spoken asthruppence. The coin commonly referred to as a "threepenny bit".
• 6d (six pence) known as a "tanner" or half a shilling.
• 11d. (elevenpence)
• 1/– (one shilling, a coin), colloquially "a bob"; the slash sign derives from the older style of along s for"solidus", which is also one name for the sign itself; the '–' is used in place of '0', meaning "zero pence".^[12][13]

• 2/– (a coin): two shillings, or oneflorin, colloquially "two-bob bit" or just "two bob")
• 2/6 (a coin): two shillings and six pence, usually said as "two and six" or "a half-crown"; the value could also be spoken as "half a crown", but the coin was always a half-crown)
• 4/3: "four and threepence", the latter word pronounced "thruppence"/ˈθrʌpəns/, "threppence"/ˈθrɛpəns/, "throopence" with -oo- as in "foot"/ˈθrʊpəns/, or "four-and-three")
• 5/– (a former coin) five shillings, onecrown, "five bob", a dollar)^[14][15]
• £1/1/– (a former coin) oneguinea - historically an amount paid for settlement of legal disputes, but currently still the wager on the winner of a horse race.
• £1/10/– : one pound, ten shillings; one pound ten, "thirty bob"
• £1/19/11+3⁄4 : one pound, nineteen shillings and elevenpence three farthings: apsychological price, one farthing under £2)
• £14/8/2 : fourteen pounds, eight shillings and twopence. Commonly read "fourteen pound(s) eight and two")

Halfpennies andfarthings (quarter of a penny) were represented by the appropriate symbol (⁠1/4⁠ for farthing,⁠1/2⁠ for halfpenny, or⁠3/4⁠ for three farthings) after the whole pence. British typewriters had theseprecomposed characters as standard, as½ (⁠1/2⁠ or1⁄2).^[c]

A convention frequently used in retail pricing was to list prices over one pound all in shillings, rather than in pounds and shillings; for example, £4/18/0 would be written as 98/– (£4.90 in decimal currency). This is still seen inshilling categories of Scottish beer, such as 90/– beer.

Sometimes, prices of luxury goods and furniture were expressed by merchants inguineas, although the guinea coin had not been struck since 1799. A guinea was 21 shillings (£1.05 in decimal currency). Professionals such as lawyers^[16] and physicians, art dealers, and some others stated their fees in guineas rather than pounds, while, for example, salaries were stated in pounds per annum.^[17] Historically, at some auctions, the purchaser would bid and pay in guineas but the seller would receive the same number of pounds; the commission was the same number of shillings.Tattersalls, the main auctioneer of racehorses in the United Kingdom and Ireland, continues this tradition of conducting auctions in guineas at its UK sales (in Ireland, auctions are conducted in euros). The vendor's commission is 5%.^[18][19] The word "guineas" is still found in the names of some British horse races, even though their prize funds are now fixed in pounds – such as the1,000 Guineas and2,000 Guineas atNewmarket Racecourse.

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The currency of Knuts, Sickles and Galleons in theHarry Potter books is a parody of the £sd system, with 29 Knuts to a Sickle and 17 Sickles to a Galleon. It serves as the currency of the Wizarding World, while pounds are still used by Muggles, the non-magical people.^[26][27]

Lysergic acid diethylamide was sometimes called "pounds, shillings and pence" during the 1960s, because of the abbreviation LSD.^[28] The English rock groupthe Pretty Things released a 1966 single titled "£.s.d." that highlighted thedouble entendre.^[29] TheChemical Defence Experimental Establishment called the first field trial with LSD as a chemical weapon "Moneybags" as a pun.^[30]

The score of 26 atdarts (one dart in each of the top three spaces) was sometimes called "half-a-crown" as late as the 1990s, though this did start to confuse the younger players. A 26 score is also referred to as "Breakfast", since 2/6, or half a crown, was the standard cost for breakfast pre-decimalisation.

• Coins of the pound sterling – British current and historic coinage
• Irish pound – Currency of Ireland before 2002
• Decimal time – Representation of the time of day using decimally related units
• LSD (disambiguation)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to£sd.

• "Pounds, Shillings and Pence".The Royal Mint Museum. Retrieved16 February 2021.

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• Numismatics
• Economic history of Ireland

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