British Currency-Please explain Pounds and Quid?

[Lucky13]

Who's the lass?

[Colin1]

I saw a Crown when I was very young, it was the biggest coin I'd ever seen though no doubt exaggerated by my being small. I missed the farthing too but its legacy lived on in sweetshops; 'blackjacks' or 'fruit salads' for four-a-penny. Anyone remember the old price tickets eg

2/- which was two shillings or 'two bob' (10p)
10/6d which was ten shillings and sixpence or 'ten and six' (52 1/2p)
6d which was sixpence or 'a tanner' (2 1/2p)
3 1/2d which was three and a half pence or thre'pence ha'penny

for example? Odd that pence were denoted with a 'd' pre-decimal.

[B-17engineer]

I think the biggest US bill was 100,000 dollars..

I was in Philadelphia this past summer at the mint (If you ever visit Philadelphia never go there......unbelievably boring..) and saw the 100,000 dollar bill.

[stona]

odd that pence were denoted with a 'd' pre-decimal.

It's latin. The old £ s d refers to (in their plural form) Librae, Solidae and Denarii.
Steve

[Vic Balshaw]

Who remembers the silver threepenny bit? Some of you younger Brits may have chewed on them if your Mum put them in the Christmas pud.

[Wayne Little]

Now you're just showing your age...

Guess I am mate!...still refer to imperial sh!t too!!

[stona]

I remember the siver threepenny bit as my grandma kept some, she convinced me they were actually silver which they weren't. I think the twelve(?) sided "copper" coin was in circulation by then. We were lucky, we got tanners (sixpence pieces) in our Christmas pudding. Probably due to inflation!
People still refer to small change as "coppers"
Steve

[conkerking]

We used to get sixpences in our Chrustmas pud too. They were worth 2.5 pence. Think of the health and safety issues they'd bleat about these days.

[parsifal]

My grandmother had a number of gold sovereigns which mysteriously disappeared from the estater when she died. She told me that they were still legal tender when she was growing up in the earely 20th century.

I am old enough to remember buying an enormous bag of sherbies for sixpence, kept me chewing all afternoon

[Lucky13]

Remember as a kid getting Ett Ores candy in Sweden, went down one day with 1 Krona......100 different ones, wasn't feeling too well after that!

[Lucky13]

The krona (sign: kr; code: SEK) has been the currency of Sweden since 1873. It is locally abbreviated kr. The plural form is kronor and one krona is subdivided into 100 öre (singular and plural). The currency is sometimes informally referred to as the "Swedish crown" in English (since krona literally means crown in Swedish). The Swedish krona also circulates in the Åland Islands alongside the official Finnish currency, the euro.

History
The introduction of the krona, which replaced at par the riksdaler riksmynt, was a result of the Scandinavian Monetary Union, which came into effect in 1873 and lasted until World War I. The parties to the union were the Scandinavian countries, where the name was krona in Sweden and krone in Denmark and Norway, which in English literally means crown. The three currencies were on the gold standard, with the krona/krone defined as 1⁄2480 of a kilogram of pure gold.

After dissolution of the monetary union, Sweden, Denmark, and Norway all decided to keep the names of their respective and now separate currencies.

Coins
Between 1873 and 1876, coins in denominations of 1, 2, 5, 10, 25, 50 öre, 1, 2, 10 & 20 kronor were introduced, with the 1, 2 & 5 öre in bronze, the 10, 25, 50 öre and 1 and 2 kronor in silver and the 10 & 20 kronor in gold. Gold 5 kronor were added in 1881.

Production of gold coins ceased in 1902 and was only briefly restarted in 1920 and 1925 before ceasing entirely. Due to metal shortages during World War I, iron replaced bronze between 1917 and 1919. Nickel-bronze replaced silver in the 10, 25 & 50 öre in 1920, with silver returning in 1927.

Metal shortages due to World War II again led to changes in the Swedish coinage. The nickel-bronze 10, 25 and 50 öre were again issued between 1940 and 1947. In 1942, iron again replaced bronze (until 1952) & the silver content of the other coins was reduced. In 1952, cupro-nickel replaced silver in the 10 öre, 25 öre & 50 öre coins, with the 2 kronor following suit & the 1 krona switching to cupro-nickel-clad copper (replaced by cupro-nickel in 1982) in 1958. 5 kronor silver coins were produced in 1954, 1955 and 1961, with designs similar to contemporary 1 and 2 kronor coins.

In 1962, a new smaller 5 kronor coin was introduced, struck in cupro-nickel-clad nickel. The current design has been produced since 1979. In 1971, the 1 and 2 öre, as well as the 2 kronor coins ceased production. The size of the 5 öre coin was reduced in 1972. In 1984, production of the 5 and 25 öre coins came to an end, followed by that of the 10 öre in 1991. Also in 1992, aluminium-brass ("Nordic gold") 10 kronor coins were introduced along with bronze coloured 50 öre coins. The government has decided in March 2009 to stop production of the 50 öre coins. They will not be legal payment from October 2010. The reason could include low purchasing power & because the coins cannot be used in most parking machines & vending machines. 2 & 20 kronor coins are currently under consideration by the Swedish Riksbank.

Of the other denominations issued in the past, all 2 kronor minted from 1876 onwards remain legal tender,[9] although these are extremely rarely seen in circulation. In addition, all jubilee and commemorative coins minted in 1897 or later are also legal tender.[10] The 2 kr coins contained 40% silver until 1966, which meant that they already several years ago were worth much more than 2 kr, so most have been bought and melted down by arbitrageurs, and the rest are kept by collectors. It is not legal in Sweden to melt down coins that are legal tender, which is why they still are legal.

By tradition, coins less than 1 krona do not bear the monarch's effigy, whilst those of 1 krona and above do (the current 5 kronor coin being the only exception). The royal motto of the monarch is also inscribed on many of the coins.

Banknotes
In 1874, notes were introduced by the Riksbank in denominations of 1, 5, 10, 50, 100 and 1000 kronor. The 1 krona was only initially issued for two years, although it reappeared between 1914 and 1920. In 1939 and 1958, 10,000 kronor notes were issued.

The 5 kronor note was discontinued in 1981, although a coin had been issued since 1972. In 1985, the 500 kronor note was introduced. With the introduction of a 10 kronor coin in 1991, production of 10 kronor notes ceased and a 20 kronor note was introduced. Production of 50 kronor notes was suspended that year but resumed in 1996. In 2006 the Riksbank introduced a new 1000 kronor note which is the first note to contain the Motion security feature developed by Crane. Crane AB, located in Tumba Sweden, prints all of the kronor banknotes.

The euro
According to the 1995 accession treaty, Sweden is required to join the eurozone and therefore must convert to the euro at some point. Notwithstanding this, on 14 September 2003, a consultative Swedish referendum was held on the euro, in which 56% of voters were opposed to the adoption of the currency, out of an overall turnout of approximately 80% (according to the BBC). The Swedish government has argued that such a course of action is possible since one of the requirements for eurozone membership is a prior two-year membership of the ERM II. By simply choosing to stay outside the exchange rate mechanism, the Swedish government is provided a formal loophole avoiding the theoretical requirement of adopting the euro.

Some of Sweden's major parties continue to believe that it would be in the national interest to join, but they have all pledged to abide by the results for the time being, and have shown no interest in raising the issue again. There is an agreement among the parties not to discuss the issue before the 2010 general election. After it a debate could start leading towards a new referendum in 2012 or later, though it is likely that one would be held considerably later than that. Polls in 2005 and 2006 generally showed about 55 percent of respondents being opposed and 45 percent in favour, not counting those who are unsure (about 15%). In a poll from May 2007, 33.3% were in favour, while 53.8% were against, and 13.0% were uncertain.

In Dagens Nyheter, Fredrik Reinfeldt, the Prime Minister of Sweden said that a new referendum on euro will not be held until support is gained from the people and all the major parties, and as such that the time is at the discretion of the Social Democrats. He added that Mona Sahlin, the the leader of the Social Democratic Party request for deferral of new referendum until after the 2010 mandate period is to be respected.

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Nicknames
As I remember, spänn, bagis, pengar, stålar, I'm sure that there are a few moree.....

[Vic Balshaw]

Mum sent me to the shop with a shilling for sweet, I came back with 4 red toffee sticks (1d each) 2 sherbet lollies on sticks (2d each) and a sherbet tube and coconut tobacco tube (2d each). It was a virtual smorgasbord of treats.

[stona]

Used to get two bob a week pocket money. If you spent that at the "tosh" shop and then ate it in one go you could go a bit green around the gills. Never stopped me though!
Incredible to think that now that is only ten pence, less than the price of a Mars bar.
Steve

[Lucky13]

Mum sent me to the shop with a shilling for sweet, I came back with 4 red toffee sticks (1d each) 2 sherbet lollies on sticks (2d each) and a sherbet tube and coconut tobacco tube (2d each). It was a virtual smorgasbord of treats.

Now, who here has had a proper Swedish smorgasbord?

[Vic Balshaw]

Now, who here has had a proper Swedish smorgasbord?

Please explain