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lethargic_manWhy did names for amounts of money change when they decimalised it? I can see why "shilling" dropped out of usage, along with the likes of "bob", "tanner", "crown", "sovereign", "dollar" (for 5/-), "florin"*, and so forth. But why did the term for "two pence" (the amount, not the coin) change from "tuppence" to "2p"? Perhaps it was just so you could tell whether someone was referring to old currency or new. If so, it seems a bit of a shame; the term "fippence" could have come into its own, now there was a coin that actually had that value...
* Quaestio: Did people continue using this term, given that the coin remained in circulation as a 10p piece for many years?
* Quaestio: Did people continue using this term, given that the coin remained in circulation as a 10p piece for many years?
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LSD
Date: 2003-11-02 06:55 am (UTC)