£sd

£sd　—　Institutions

An accounting system where 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence. The pound originated not as a coin, but as a unit of weight and account.

Penny of Offa — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

Silver denier of Charlemagne — A photograph of the real thing this term names.

An accounting system of 1 pound = 20 shillings = 240 pence. It was based on the system established by Charlemagne of 1 livre = 20 sous = 240 deniers. The pound originated not as a coin, but as a unit of weight and account.

⚠ Decimalisation occurred in 1971. For over a thousand years, European account books were written using this duodecimal system.