The monetary system was based on gold and silver. Twenty shillings (20s.) were worth one pound sterling (£1 or 1l.), and twelve pennies (12d.) equalled one shilling. There were no one-pound coins. The guinea (worth £1 and 1 shilling, or 21 shillings, abbreviated to £1 1s.) was a gold coin, and other gold coins included a five guinea (£5 5s.), half a guinea (10s. 6d.), quarter of a guinea (5s. 3d.) and one-third of a guinea (7s.). Silver coins included one crown (5s.), half-a-crown (2s. 6d.), one shilling (1s.), sixpence (6d.), fourpence (4d.), twopence (2d.) and some earlier pennies. As the coinage devalued over time, pennies were instead minted of copper alloy, as were the halfpenny (½d.) and farthing (¼d.).
Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins, Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England: How our ancestors lived two centuries ago
Napilt olin endale šillingid ja vanad pennid korralikult selgeks teinud (vt ka: viktoriin), kui mind täiesti ette hoiatamata tabas järgmine sahmakas infot nende kuld- ja hõbemüntide kohta. Nüüd mõtlen küll, et teadmatus oli ikka õnnistus – eluaeg olen kõigis raamatutes rahasummad rahulikult kahe silma vahele jätnud, aga nüüd arvutan iga viimase kui karussellisõidu hinna, toapoisi jootraha või kaardimängus kaotatud summa obsessiivselt naeltesse, pennidesse, detsimaliseerimisjärgsetesse ja aegajalt ka tänapäevastesse vääringutesse:
The approximate equivalents of money in Jane Austen’s time to UK decimal coinage are one guinea = £1.05; one pound = £1; one crown = 25p; and one shilling = 5p. In terms of purchasing power, a shilling at that time would be about £1.60 today and a guinea about £34 (using The National Archives currency converter which translates prices in 1800 to values in 2005).
Roy Adkins, Lesley Adkins, Eavesdropping on Jane Austen’s England: How our ancestors lived two centuries ago
Seda muidugi kõigi raamatute puhul, mitte ainult Austeni. Tohutult aega võtab see arvutamine, eriti kui need pagana ginid ette satuvad. (Kolmandik gini ehk seitse šillingit ehk 84 penni, KES tuleb sellise mündi peale üldse?)
Ühesõnaga, elan nagu Arthur Dent pärast lindude keele selgeksõppimist – kenast sirinast on saanud tarbetult palju tehnilist infot.
whatever 