Editing Coins of the pound sterling (section)

==History of pre-decimal coinage==
Because of trade links with Charlemagne's Frankish Empire, the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms copied the Frankish currency system of 12 [[French denier|deniers]] ("d", pennies) to the [[French sol|sou]] (shilling) and 240 deniers or 20 sous to the [[French livre|libra]] ("£", pound), the origin of the name of the current British currency. It referred to the literal weight of 240 penny coins, which at 30 grains each,  weighed 1 [[Pound (mass)#Tower_pound|tower pound]] of sterling (0.925 fine) silver. At this point and for centuries, pennies were the only coins struck; shillings and pounds were only units of account.<ref>{{cite web |title=A Brief History of Coinage in Britain |url=https://www.chards.co.uk/guides/brief-history-of-british-coins/464 |website=Chards |access-date=24 July 2023 |date=3 December 2018}}</ref>

===The penny before 1500===
{{See also|Penny (English coin)|Scottish coinage}}

The English silver penny first appeared in the 8th century CE in adoption of Western Europe's [[Carolingian dynasty|Carolingian]] monetary system wherein 12 pence made a shilling and 20 shillings made a pound. The weight of the English penny was fixed at {{frac|22|1|2}} troy grains (about 1.46&nbsp;grams) by [[Offa of Mercia]], an 8th-century contemporary of [[Charlemagne]]; 240 pennies weighed 5,400 grains or a [[tower pound]] (different from the [[troy pound]] of 5,760 grains). The silver penny was the only coin minted for 500 years, from c. 780 to 1280.

From the time of [[Charlemagne]] until the 12th century, the silver currency of England was made from the highest purity silver available. But there were disadvantages to minting currency of [[fine silver]], notably the level of wear it suffered, and the ease with which coins could be "[[Coin clipping|clipped]]", or trimmed. In 1158 a new standard for English coinage was established by [[Henry II of England|Henry II]] with the "[[Tealby Hoard|Tealby Penny]]" – the [[sterling silver]] standard of 92.5% silver and 7.5% copper. This was a harder-wearing alloy, yet it was still a rather high grade of silver. It went some way towards discouraging the practice of "clipping", though this practice was further discouraged and largely eliminated with the introduction of the milled edge seen on coins today.

The weight of a silver penny stayed constant at above 22 grains until 1344; afterwards its weight was reduced to 18 grains in 1351, to 15 grains in 1412, to 12 grains in 1464, and to 10{{frac|2}} grains in 1527.

The history of the [[Royal Mint]] stretches back to AD 886.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalmint.gov.uk/|title=Coins – Collector Gold & Silver Coins & Limited Edition Gifts|work=The Royal Mint|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050210013005/http://www.royalmint.gov.uk/|archive-date=10 February 2005}}</ref> For many centuries production was in London, initially at the [[Tower of London]], and then at premises nearby in [[Tower Hill]] in what is today known as [[Royal Mint Court]]. In the 1970s production was transferred to [[Llantrisant]] in South Wales.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.royalmint.com/Corporate/History/TheRoyalMint/llantrisant.aspx|title=Llantrisant|publisher=[[Royal Mint]]|year=2012|access-date=28 January 2012|quote=In April 1967 it was announced that the new Royal Mint would be built at Llantrisant in South Wales.|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111116074713/http://www.royalmint.com/Corporate/History/TheRoyalMint/llantrisant.aspx|archive-date=16 November 2011}}</ref> Historically Scotland and England had separate coinage; the last [[Scottish coinage|Scottish coins]] were struck in 1709 shortly after [[Acts of Union 1707|union with England]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-190-000-917-C|title=National Museums of Scotland – Balance and scales (detail)|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409172028/http://nms.scran.ac.uk/database/record.php?usi=000-190-000-917-C|archive-date=9 April 2009}}</ref>

===The penny after 1500===

During the reign of Henry VIII, the silver content was gradually debased, reaching a low of one-third silver. However, in Edward VI's reign in 1551, this debased coinage was discontinued in favor of a return to sterling silver with the penny weighing 8 grains. The first crowns and half-crowns were produced that year. From this point onwards till 1920, sterling was the rule.

Coins were originally [[Hammered coinage|hand-hammered]] – an ancient technique in which two dies are struck together with a blank coin between them. This was the traditional method of manufacturing coins in the Western world from the classical Greek era onwards, in contrast with Asia, where coins were traditionally cast. Milled (that is, machine-made) coins were produced first during the reign of [[Elizabeth I of England|Elizabeth I]] (1558–1603) and periodically during the subsequent reigns of [[James I of England|James I]] and [[Charles I of England|Charles I]], but there was initially opposition to mechanisation from the moneyers, who ensured that most coins continued to be produced by hammering. All British coins produced since 1662 have been milled.

By 1601 it was decreed that one [[troy ounce]] or 480 grains of sterling silver be minted into 62 pennies (i.e. each penny weighed 7.742 grains). By 1696, the currency had been seriously weakened by an increase in clipping during the [[Nine Years' War]]<ref>Kleer, Richard. [http://www.litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1304 "The 1696 Recoinage (1696–1699)"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100114145107/http://litencyc.com/php/stopics.php?rec=true&UID=1304 |date=14 January 2010 }}. ''The Literary Encyclopedia''. University of Regina.</ref> to the extent that it was decided to recall and replace all hammered silver coinage in circulation.<ref name="nandthec">[[Thomas Levenson|Levenson, Thomas]]. ''Newton and the Counterfeiter''. Faber & Faber. {{ISBN|978-0-571-22992-5}}</ref> The exercise came close to disaster due to fraud and mismanagement,<ref>Murray, Athol L. (1999). [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_129/129_861_886.pdf "The Scottish Mint after the recoinage, 1709–1836"]. {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20090822230936/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_129/129_861_886.pdf |date=22 August 2009 }}. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.</ref> but was saved by the personal intervention of [[Isaac Newton]] after his appointment as [[Warden of the Mint]], a post which was intended to be a [[sinecure]], but which he took seriously.<ref name=nandthec /> Newton was subsequently given the post of [[Master of the Mint]] in 1699. Following the 1707 [[Acts of Union 1707|union]] between the [[Kingdom of England]] and the [[Kingdom of Scotland]], Newton used his previous experience to direct the [[Scottish coinage|1707–1710 Scottish recoinage]], resulting in a [[Economic and monetary union|common currency]] for the new [[Kingdom of Great Britain]]. After 15 September 1709 no further silver coins were ever struck in Scotland.<ref>Murray, Athol L. (1997). [http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_127/127_921_944.pdf "Sir Isaac Newton and the Scottish recoinage, 1707–10"]. {{webarchive|url=http://archive.wikiwix.com/cache/20090821045144/http://ads.ahds.ac.uk/catalogue/adsdata/PSAS_2002/pdf/vol_127/127_921_944.pdf |date=21 August 2009 }}. Society of Antiquaries of Scotland.</ref>

As a result of a report written by Newton on 21 September 1717 to the [[HM Treasury|Lords Commissioners of His Majesty's Treasury]]<ref>[[Isaac Newton|Newton, Isaac]] (21 September 1717). [http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1701-25-mint-reports/report-1717-09-25.html "On the Value of Gold and Silver in European Currencies and the Consequences on the World-wide Gold- and Silver-Trade"]. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170128201847/http://www.pierre-marteau.com/editions/1701-25-mint-reports/report-1717-09-25.html |date=28 January 2017 }}.</ref> the bimetallic relationship between gold coins and silver coins was changed by [[royal proclamation]] on 22 December 1717, forbidding the exchange of gold guineas for more than 21 silver shillings.<ref>[https://archive.org/details/numismaticser1v05royauoft "By The King, A Proclamation Declaring the Rates at which Gold shall be current in Payments"]. ''The Numismatic Chronicle and Journal of the Royal Numismatic Society'', vol V., April 1842 – January 1843.</ref> Due to differing valuations in other European countries this unintentionally resulted in a silver shortage, as silver coins were used to pay for imports, while exports were paid for in gold, effectively moving Britain from the [[silver standard]] to its first [[gold standard]], rather than the [[Bimetallism|bimetallic standard]] implied by the proclamation.

The coinage reform of 1816 set up a weight/value ratio and physical sizes for silver coins. Each troy ounce of sterling silver was henceforth minted into 66 pence or 5{{frac|2}} shillings.

In 1920, the silver content of all British coins was reduced from 92.5% to 50%, with some of the remainder consisting of [[manganese]], which caused the coins to tarnish to a very dark colour after they had been in circulation for long. Silver was eliminated altogether in 1947, except for [[Maundy money|Maundy coinage]], which returned to the pre-1920 92.5% silver composition.

The 1816 weight/value ratio and size system survived the debasement of silver in 1920, and the adoption of token coins of [[cupronickel]] in 1947. It even persisted after decimalisation for those coins which had equivalents and continued to be minted with their values in new pence. The UK finally abandoned it in 1992 when smaller, more convenient, "silver" coins were introduced.