Victorian Currency

In my very non-professional opinion, one of the more interesting topics addressed during our class presentations was Victorian currency. I found the intricacies and details of the money of the 19th century very intriguing. The money of the time simply looked cool where it lacked in functionality, which was a concern of the era. England's currency of the 19th century followed a rather unorthodox system, made up of shillings, pennies, and pounds. The penny was the smallest unit, other than half and quarter pennies (also called farthings), and 12 pennies made up a shilling. 20 shillings made up a pound, therefore 240 pennies made up a pound. The numbers seem very random, without much rhyme or reason, and were somewhat ridiculed until England finally changed to a decimal system in 1971.