Names of British Coins

[zurielshimon]

Over the past several weeks, thanks to both my uncle who was flown to London to inspect a machine for his company and to TRINIST who sent me some to cover the postage for his Nashville concert CDs, I have a small collection of of British coins, and I know the British are known for their slang names for everything, so I'm wondering what are common names for the circulating coins in the U.K., other than just 10p, 20p, &c, like, I know the half-pound coin (50 pence) replaced a tenbob note, and the 5p coin is the equivalent of the shilling; the one I'm most interested in is the 20p because I don't know what to call it - 20p seems so awkward, and it's certainly not a quarter - so other than the seemingly logical "fourbob", does it have a common name?

[Scotty]

1 pee,
2 pee,
5 pee,
10pee,
20pee,
50pee,
1 pound
2 pound
and the ever so rare
5 pound coin.

And no one here alive would remember the old currency...that I know of.

and we don't really have slang for coins we might some times say

20 pence piece or just 20 pee. or for like £1.50 you could just say one fifty.

Deja Vu.

[Scotty]

oh I remember £500 is a monkey and £1000 is a grand...£2000 is 2 grand...x is x grand.

*slaps head* £5 is a fiver and £10 is a tenner and wait ur thinking £20 is a twentier pfft NO!!!

oh and we use quid as in 50 quid. But this is just money not necessarily coins.

[rosieposy87]

yeah, we don't say stuff like 'quarters' or whatever- its just 20p. Or 50p. Its either a pound or a quid. A tenner. A fiver. None of the others change much.

[Scotty]

yeah, we don't say stuff like 'quarters' or whatever- its just 20p. Or 50p. Its either a pound or a quid. A tenner. A fiver. None of the others change much.

yeah...can I haav a half pound please...[/americanaccent]

[zurielshimon]

I'm familiar with "quid", and "fiver" and "tenner" are encountered occasionally in the States.  I'm also familiar with phraseology like "six pounds, twenty" for £6.20.  In America, the coin officially called "half dollar" is often called "fifty-cent piece", especially by older or rural speakers.  But I implore you, why is there no cute little name for the 20p piece?  How about rose-crown or quintuplet?  Call it pobblebonk for all I care!  I like it, even if I believe it's non-conformist to have a coin for 0.20 instead of 0.25.

[Scotty]

why? because we have lived this long without calling it anything but a 20p so I doubt we are gonna start now...

[NESSAussie]

I like it, even if I believe it's non-conformist to have a coin for 0.20 instead of 0.25.

The list of conformists includes the 20 below. At least 21 of the world's 193
countries have currency featuring 25¢ :wink: What are the other 89% doing :?

Argentina
Bahamas
Barbados
Belize
Brazil
Canada
Cayman Islands
Costa Rica
Denmark
Dominican Republic
El Salvador
Guyana
Indonesia
Jamaica
Liberia
Netherlands
Netherlands Antilles
Panama
Seychelles
Trinidad & Tobago

[kev222]

But I implore you, why is there no cute little name for the 20p piece?  How about rose-crown or quintuplet?  Call it pobblebonk for all I care!

All those names are long and inconvenient (not to mention embarrasingly bad). It doesn't get any easier than just saying 20p, so that's what we do. We're lazy.

[zurielshimon]

From this, I can make one of two conclusions:  Either the process of slang naming is a very slow one in Britain, or the tradition is dying out.  I'll ask again in ten years to be sure.  Maybe it's just this generation showing its rebellion.