Money came in the forms of notes and coins. In general, notes were for larger denominations, up to 1000 pounds, and coins were for the smaller denominations. In Regency times, the lowest denomination of notes was 1 and 2 pounds. For smaller amounts, coins were used.
The Royal Mint issued coins, and a bank issued notes. The Bank of England has issued notes from its inception in 1694, and until 1844, regional banks could also issue notes.
From What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew by Daniel Pool, here are some of the most common money terms in Regency novels:
Value--Coin
21 shillings--guinea
20 shillings--sovereign (1817 and later) -- pound
10 shillings--half sovereign (1817 and later)
5 shillings--crown (slang term--"dollar")
2 1/2 shillings--half crown
2 shillings--florin
12 pence--shilling
6 pence--sixpence
3 pence--threepence
2 pence--twopence (pronounced "tuppence")
1 pence--penny
1/2 pence--halfpenny (slang "ha'penny")
1/4 pence--farthing
Note that a guinea is more than a pound.
Here's a link with most of the above information.
Guineas, sovereigns and half-sovereigns were gold. Crowns, half crowns, florins, shillings, sixpence and threepence were silver. The pennies and farthings were copper.
This link shows some coins minted during the reign of George III, which includes the Regency:
Most Regency financial transactions involved coins, even though one and two pound notes were available. Why? Because a Regency pound was a lot of money. The Worth of Regency Money is my next post.
Note: the picture above shows the newest designs of British money. From Wikipedia.
Thank you all,
Linda
