What are florins, half-crowns and sixpences worth in decimal money?
Old British money used pounds, shillings and pence. Before Decimal Day in 1971, one pound contained 20 shillings and 240 old pence. One shilling contained 12 old pence.
The decimal face equivalent of a coin is a calculation. It is not a statement about what the coin buys today and it is not a collector valuation.
Common conversions
- Sixpence was 6 old pence, which converts to £0.025, or 2.5p.
- A florin was two shillings, or 24 old pence, which converts to 10p.
- A half-crown was two shillings and sixpence, or 30 old pence, which converts to 12.5p.
- A crown was five shillings, or 60 old pence, which converts to 25p.
These are decimal equivalents of the old denominations. They do not adjust for inflation and do not say what a collector might pay for a particular coin.
How the arithmetic works
The old system can be reduced to pence before converting. For example:
- 1 shilling = 12 old pence
- 2 shillings = 24 old pence
- 2 shillings and 6 pence = 30 old pence
- 240 old pence = £1
So a florin, at 24 old pence, is 24 divided by 240 pounds. That equals £0.10 in decimal face terms.
The Bank of England’s converter uses the same basic relationships and also provides an inflation calculator. That second calculation answers a different question: what a historical amount might represent in modern purchasing-power terms.
Does the conversion tell me what my coin is worth?
No. There are at least three separate questions:
- What was the coin’s original denomination?
- What is its decimal face equivalent?
- What, if anything, might a collector pay for the exact issue?
A coin can have a small decimal face equivalent and still attract collector interest because of its date, design, condition or scarcity. The reverse is also possible: an old coin can be historically interesting without having a high market price.
When researching a florin, half-crown or sixpence, record the monarch, date, denomination and condition. Do not clean the coin before seeking information. Use sold prices rather than unsold asking prices if you later study the market, and keep those figures separate from the conversion calculation.
For more detail, see how much a shilling represents, the history of pounds, shillings and pence and our denomination guides for florins, half-crowns and sixpences.