d = penny. Why?
BillyKingsley
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Hello folks, another rookie question. I've read that d stands for Penny in England. Why is this? I can't figure a reason...
Billy Kingsley ANA R-3146356 Cardboard History // Numismatic History
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The structure of pound sterling was very different from the one prevailing currently until the decimalization concept was adopted into the British monetary system in 1971. In the times prior to 1971, a much complex system of subdivision was made use of in which one pound consisted of 20 shillings that were further subdivided in 12 pence each. That made one pound equal to a total of 240 pence. The shillings were denoted with the sign 's' that was derived from the Latin word 'solidus' and penny was denoted as 'd' that was again taken up from a Latin word 'denarius'. After the decimalization of the currency, one unit of the pound is divided into 100 equal pence instead of 240 pence.
Now, the symbol for a penny has been changed from 'd' to 'p' and coinage for 9 denominations is minted that are 1 penny, 2, 5, 10, 20, 50 pence and 1, 2, 5 pounds. The Royal mint performs the minting function for the British pound. These coins are accepted as legal tender only for a certain amount limit and are not used for the amounts exceeding that limit.
I hope that helps... It didn't help me...
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Now, as you're probably aware, a denarius is actually an ancient Roman silver coin. So, the next question is, logically, how "denarius" came to mean "penny".
The origins of the penny lie back in the Dark Ages, over a thousand years ago. The great power in Europe at the time was the Frankish kingdom, which would eventually evolve into France. In the 700's AD, the Franks introduced a new silver coin they called a "denier". It was modelled on the old Roman denarius, and was the first full-sized, high-fineness silver coin seen in Western Europe since the fall of the empire.
The denier was an instant hit, and copied by other nations throughout Western Europe. In Germany the coin was called the "pfennige", from an old German word for "flat pan-shaped". The Saxons, the Germanic peoples who ruled England at the time, copied the French coin but used a Germanic name for it - pennige, from whence eventually came the English word "penny". Thus, in the early middle ages, "penny" and "denier" were effectively one and the same coin, only issued on opposite sides of the Channel.
So, if the English name for the coin was "penny", why would they use shorthand "d", rather than"p" or some variant thereof? In England, the monks, scribes and book-keepers all could read and write Latin, and all official records would have been kept in Latin; for example, the famous Domesday Book is in Latin. So, when they wrote down amounts of money, they gave the coin it's Latin name in their records - denarius.
Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, "Meditations"
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Don
d=penny=denier=pfennige
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