shilling
n.a British coin used in the past. It was worth twelve pennies, and twenty of them made one pound.
n.a former British unit of currency and coin, equal to one-twentieth of a pound sterling or twelve pence. Withdrawn from circulation following decimalisation in 1971.
“The old man found a silver shilling in his garden.”
“Before the currency changed in 1971, you could buy quite a lot with a single shilling.”
“Historical ledgers from the Victorian era often record the weekly wages of domestic servants in shillings and pence, reflecting a rigid social and economic hierarchy.”
Commonly used in historical contexts or literature set before the 1970s.
“Cofek has expressed concern over the rationing as well as the increasing cost, saying fresh milk prices have risen from 70 to 80 Kenyan shillings ($0.54 to $0.62; £0.40 to £0.46) a litre.”
“Individual discoveries reportedly range from amounts worth a few hundred Kenyan shillings to one find valued at approximately 78,000 shillings ($600).”
From Middle English schilling, shilling, from Old English sċilling, from Proto-Germanic *skillingaz, equivalent to skill + -ing. Doublet of scalding and schilling.
See shill.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.