794
Charlemagne established a new silver currency.
WORDS
Money Counted in 12s and 20s
In 1971, a method of counting money that had persisted in Britain for over a thousand years came to an end. One pound was twenty shillings, and one shilling was twelve pence. The origin of this complex system of accounting was on the continent, across the sea.
Money Counted in 12s and 20s in 3 Minutes
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794
He changed the number of coins struck from one pound of silver to 240.
264 → 240 coins
240 is a number divisible by both 12 and 20.
12 pieces made one solidus, and 20 solidi made one pound.
For the next 1200 years
This three-tiered way of counting dominated European bookkeeping.
April 1792
America chose not to use the old system, making 1 dollar equal to 100 cents.
Money you can count on your fingers.
Until 1971
In Britain, 1 pound was 20 shillings, and one shilling was 12 pence.
240 pence
What made up 1 pound
February 15, 1971
1 pound became 100 new pence. A way of counting that lasted over 1000 years came to an end.
2In numbers
240pence
Until February 15, 1971, this is how many pence were in 1 pound.
3What would you do?
You get to decide how a new country counts its money. Which do you choose?
Pick one
Count in 240s, divisible by both 12 and 20.
This is the path Charlemagne chose. 12 pieces made one solidus, and 20 solidi made one pound. This way of counting dominated European bookkeeping for 1200 years.
Use a system based on 10s.
This is the path the newly born America chose in 1792. 1 dollar is 100 cents. The spirit of independence was reflected even in how they counted their money.
Britain also changed 1 pound to 100 new pence on February 15, 1971.
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The Final Day of Reckoning
On 15 February 1971, British currency changed. One pound became one hundred new pence. From this day forward, the mixed duodecimal and vigesimal system of accounting was brought to an end.
Until then, one pound was twenty shillings and one shilling was twelve pence, making a total of two hundred and forty pence. The pound was a unit of weight and of account, but the coin people held in their hands was the penny. This system of accounting took root in England along with the penny of Offa.
A Number Divisible by Twelve and Twenty
The framework for this method of counting originates from the system established in Western Europe by the Frankish king, Charlemagne.
In 794, at the Council of Frankfurt, the use of a new currency was decreed. It was to be struck from pure silver and to bear the name of Karl. The cornerstone of the reform was to change the number of coins made from one pound of pure silver from the previous two hundred and sixty-four to two hundred and forty.
Two hundred and forty is a number divisible by both twelve and twenty. This reform gave rise to a system in which twelve coins made one solidus, and twenty solidi made one pound.
A New Nation's Standard
More than a thousand years later, there was one country that chose not to adopt this Old World standard: the United States of America.
The Coinage Act, established in April 1792, defined the monetary unit as the dollar and adopted a decimal system for its subdivisions. One dollar is one hundred cents. It was a currency that anyone could count on their fingers.
It was a standard for a new nation, different from both the complex accounting of shillings and pence used by Britain across the sea, and the division of the Spanish dollar into eight parts that had long supported daily life. The very ideal of independence was inscribed even in the way money was counted.
A Framework Lasting Over a Thousand Years
The three-tiered system of accounting established by Charlemagne—libra, solidus, denarius—would dominate European ledgers for the next twelve hundred years.
Britain's pound, shilling, and pence system was the same framework, modelled on this Carolingian system. This method of accounting survived in England for over a thousand years, finally ending its long service on 15 February 1971.
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