On Tue, 04 Jul 1995 18:14:27 -0400 (EDT) Roderick Hay wrote: > Could someone please explain the fine points of the old British money > system? I understand the basic Pounds, Shillings, Pence, but do not > understand Guineas and Crowns. I thought I did until I read John Law > talking about changing the number of shillings in a Crown. > The guinea and (later?) sovereign were gold, the shilling silver. Newton, when master of the mint, changed the value of the guinea from 21s 6d to 21s to reflect the changed relative market values of gold and silver. Cantillon commented on the issue (Higgs edition, p. 281). Up to the eighteenth century, at least, silver was always regarded as the standard, that is, the 'pound' (which was not a coin, but a unit of account) was defined in terms of silver shillings. Tony Brewer, Bristol, [log in to unmask]