What is "shilling"

Shilling \Shil"ling\, n. [OE. shilling, schilling, AS. scilling; akin to D. schelling, OS. & OHG. scilling, G. schilling, Sw. & Dan. skilling, Icel. skillingr, Goth. skilliggs, and perh. to OHG. scellan to sound, G. schallen.]

1. A silver coin, and money of account, of Great Britain and its dependencies, equal to twelve pence, or the twentieth part of a pound, equivalent to about twenty-four cents of the United States currency.

2. In the United States, a denomination of money, differing in value in different States. It is not now legally recognized.

   Note: Many of the States while colonies had issued bills of credit which had depreciated in different degrees in the different colonies. Thus, in New England currency (used also in Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida), after the adoption of the decimal system, the pound in paper money was worth only $

3. 333, and the shilling 16? cts., or 6s. to $1; in New York currency (also in North Carolina, Ohio, and Michigan), the pound was worth $2.50, and the shilling 121/2 cts., or 8s. to $1; in Pennsylvania currency (also in New Jersey, Delaware, and Maryland), the pound was worth $2.70, and the shilling 131/2 cts., or 7s. 6d. to $1; and in Georgia currency (also in South Carolina), the pound was worth $

4. 29?, and the shilling 21? cts., or 4s 8d. to $

   1. In many parts of the country . . . the reckoning by shillings and pence is not yet entirely abandoned.
      --Am. Cyc.

      3. The Spanish real, of the value of one eight of a dollar, or 12? cets; -- formerly so called in New York and some other States. See Note under

   2. York shilling. Same as Shilling,

Old English scilling, a coin consisting of a varying number of pence (on the continent, a common scale was 12 pennies to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound), from Proto-Germanic *skillingoz- (cognates: Old Saxon, Danish, Swedish, Old Frisian, Old High German skilling, Old Norse skillingr, Dutch schelling, German Schilling, Gothic skilliggs).\n

\nSome etymologists trace this to the root *skell- "to resound, to ring," and others to the root *(s)kel- (1) "to cut" (perhaps via sense of "shield" from resemblance or as a device on coins; see shield (n.)). The ending may represent the diminutive suffix -ling, or Germanic -ing "fractional part" (compare farthing). Old Church Slavonic skulezi, Polish szeląg, Spanish escalin, French schelling, Italian scellino are loan-words from Germanic.

Etymology 1 n. 1 A coin formerly used in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Malta, Australia, New Zealand and many other Commonwealth countries. 2 The currency of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania and Ugand

1. 3 (lb en US historical) A currency in the United States, differing in value between states. 4 (lb en US historical New York and some other states) The Spanish real, formerly having the value of one eighth of a dollar. Etymology 2

   v

2. (present participle of shill English)

1. n. the basic unit of money in Uganda; equal to 100 cents [syn: Ugandan shilling]

2. the basic unit of money in Tanzania; equal to 100 cents [syn: Tanzanian shilling]

3. the basic unit of money in Somalia; equal to 100 cents [syn: Somalian shilling]

4. the basic unit of money in Kenya; equal to 100 cents [syn: Kenyan shilling]

5. a former monetary unit in Great Britain [syn: British shilling, bob]

6. an English coin worth one twentieth of a pound

The shilling is a unit of currency formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, and other British Commonwealth countries. The word shilling comes from scilling, an accounting term that dates back to Anglo-Saxon times, and from there back to Old Norse, where it means "division". In fact, many Norse-influenced countries use the term too.

Slang terms for the old shilling coins include "bob" and "hog".

One abbreviation for shilling is s (for solidus, see £sd). Often it was informally represented by a slash, standing for a long s or ſ, thus 1/6 would be 1 shilling and sixpence, often pronounced "one and six" (and equivalent to 18 d; the shilling itself was valued at 12 d). A price with no pence was written with a slash and a dash: 11/–. Quite often a triangle or ( serif) apostrophe would be used to give a neater appearance, such as 1'6 or 11'–. In Africa, it is often abbreviated sh.

During the Great Recoinage of 1816, the mint was instructed to coin one troy pound (weighing 5760 grains) of standard (0.925 fine) silver into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations. This effectively set the weight of the shilling, and its subsequent decimal replacement 5 new pence coin, at 87.2727 grains or 5.655 grams from 1816 to 1990, when a new smaller 5p coin was introduced.

In the past, the English world has had various myths about the shilling. One myth was that it was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent or a sheep elsewhere.

The shilling (1s) coin was a subdivision of the pre-decimal Irish pound, worth of a pound.

The original minting of the coin from 1928 until 1942 contained 75% silver; this Irish coin had a higher content than the equivalent British coin. These earlier coins were noticeably different from their later counterparts as they were of a lighter hue than the cupronickel coins minted from 1951, and they resisted wear less well. The cupronickel coin contained 75% copper and 25% nickel.

The coin measured in diameter and weighed 5.655 grams; this did not change with cupro-nickel coin. The last shillings were minted in 1968. When the currency was decimalised, this coin continued to circulate alongside its replacement five pence (which also featured a bull on the reverse); the shilling was finally withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1993 as a smaller five pence coin was introduced.

The reverse design featuring a bull was by English artist Percy Metcalfe. The obverse featured the Irish harp. From 1928 to 1937 the date was split either side of the harp with the name Saorstát Éireann circling around. From 1938 to 1968 the inscription changed to Éire on the left of the harp and the date on the right.

The shilling is a coin worth one twentieth of a pound, formerly used in British Commonwealth countries. Several countries in Africa continue to have national currencies named shillings.

Units of currency:

• Shilling (British coin)
• Shilling (English coin)
• Shilling (Irish coin)
• Kenyan shilling
• Somali shilling
• Tanzanian shilling
• Ugandan shilling
• The former East African shilling

The Australian Shilling was a coin of the Commonwealth of Australia prior to decimalisation. The coin was minted from 1910 until 1963, excluding 1923, 1929, 1930, 1932, 1938, 1947, 1949 and 1951. After decimalisation on 14 February 1966, it was equal to 10¢.

During World War II, between 1942–1944, shilling production was supplemented by coinage produced at the San Francisco branch of the United States Mint, which bear a small S below the ram's head.

The English shilling was a silver coin of the Kingdom of England, when first introduced known as the testoon. It remained in circulation until it became the British shilling as the result of the Union of England and Scotland to form the Kingdom of Great Britain in 1707.

There were twenty shillings to the pound sterling and twelve pence to the shilling, and thus 240 pence to the pound.

The shilling (1/-) was a coin worth one twentieth of a pound sterling, or twelve pence. It was first minted in the reign of Henry VII as the testoon, and became known as the shilling sometime in the mid-sixteenth century, circulating until 1990. The word bob was sometimes used for a monetary value of several shillings, e.g. "ten bob note". Following decimalisation in 1970 the coin had a value of five new pence. It was made from silver from its introduction in or around 1503 until 1947, and thereafter in cupronickel.

Prior to Decimal Day in 1971 there were 240 pence in one pound sterling. Twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound. Values less than a pound were usually written in terms of shillings and pence, e.g. forty-two pence would be three shillings and six pence (3/6), pronounced "three and six". Values of less than a shilling were simply written in terms of pence, e.g. eight pence would be 8d.

Although the coin was not minted until the sixteenth century, the value of a shilling had been used for accounting purposes since the Anglo-Saxon period. Originally, a shilling was deemed to be the value of a cow in Kent, or a sheep elsewhere. The value of one shilling equalling 12d was set by the Normans following the conquest; prior to this various Anglo-Saxon coins equalling 3, 4, and 12 pence had all been known as shillings.