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The shilling is a historical coin, and the name of a unit of modern currencies formerly used in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, other British Commonwealth countries and Ireland, where they were generally equivalent to 12 pence or one-twentieth of a pound before being phased out during the 1960s and 1970s. Currently the shilling is used as a currency in five east African countries: Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Somalia, as well as the de facto country of Somaliland. The East African Community additionally plans to introduce an East African shilling. The word shilling comes from Old English "Scilling", a monetary term meaning twentieth of a pound, from the Proto-Germanic root skiljaną meaning 'to separate, split, divide', from (s)kelH- meaning 'to cut, split.' The word "Scilling" is mentioned in the earliest recorded Germanic law codes, those of Æthelberht of Kent. In origin, the word schilling designated the solidus of Late Antiquity, the gold coin that replaced the aureus in the 4th century. The Anglo-Saxon scillingas of the 7th century were still small gold coins. In 796, Charlemagne passed a monetary reform, based on the Carolingian silver pound (about 406.5 grams). The schilling was one-twentieth of a pound or about 20.3 grams of silver. One schilling had 12 denarii or deniers ("pennies"). There were, however, no silver schilling coins in the Carolingian period, and gold schillings (equivalent to twelve silver pfennigs) were very rare. In the 12th century, larger silver coins of multiple pfennig weight were minted, known as denarii grossi or groschen (groats). These heavier coins were valued at between 4 and 20 of the silver denarii. In the late medieval period, states of the Holy Roman Empire began minting similar silver coins of multiple pfennig weight, some of them denominated as schilling. In the 16th century, numerous different types of schilling were minted in Europe. The English shilling was the continuation of the testoon coin under Edward VI and was first minted in 1551 minted in 92.5% "sterling" silver.

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Related concepts (20)

Shilling

Pound sterling

Sterling (ISO code: GBP) is the currency of the United Kingdom and nine of its associated territories. The pound (sign: £) is the main unit of sterling, and the word "pound" is also used to refer to the British currency generally, often qualified in international contexts as the British pound or the pound sterling. In British English, its most common nickname is "quid." Sterling is the world's oldest currency that is still in use and that has been in continuous use since its inception.

£sd

£sd (occasionally written Lsd, spoken as "pounds, shillings and pence" or pronounced ɛl.ɛsˈdiː ) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the British Empire and subsequently the Commonwealth. The abbreviation originates from the Latin currency denominations librae, solidi, and denarii. In the United Kingdom, these were referred to as pounds, shillings, and pence (pence being the plural of penny).