margaritagdns009
|
well , the old "guinea" used to be used in the 19th century a lot, it was 21 shillings.
It was particularly popular within horse racing circles.
In fact you still have races by the name of 1,000 Guineas and so on as that would have been the original prize money that applied (obviously a lot more these days).
Hope this information helps. Today 21 shillings = £1.05 |
DAVID C
 |
It all boils down to old money,
A troy pound of gold is where the name pound coins came from, they were simply a lump of gold, that weighed one pound. however the price to mint them was costing so much, so a lighter coin was made to replace the pound of gold.
The guinea coin of 1663 was the first British machine-struck gold coin. 44½ guineas would be made from one Troy pound of 11/12 finest gold, each weighing 129.4 grains. The denomination was originally worth one pound, or twenty (silver) shillings; but rises in the price of gold caused by warfare, made the value of the guinea to increase, at times as high as thirty shillings.
The name, which was an unofficial name for the coin, came from Guinea in Africa, where much of the gold used to make the coins originated. Although the coin is no longer current, the term guinea survives in horse racing, to mean an amount of one pound and five pence in decimalised currency.
In 1813 it was necessary to strike 80,000 guineas to pay the Duke of Wellington's army in the Pyrenees, as the local people would only accept gold in payment. This issue has become known as the Military Guinea.
At this time gold was still scarce, and the guinea was trading on the open market for 27 shillings in paper money, so the coining of this issue for the army's special needs was a poor deal for the government, and this was the last issue of guineas to be minted.
In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was replaced as the major unit of currency by the pound, its value then was down to 21 shillings, a price it is now equivalent to. |
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