three-and-sixpenny - English Vocabulary - English (2024)

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Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 10:32:37 AM
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Quote:

And then they go to the Primitive Chapel in their two-guinea hat, girls as would have been proud of a three-and-sixpenny one in my day.

I know sixpenny is a type of old coin, but what of the "three" preceding it? Doesn't sound like the hat costs 3 sixpennies.

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Fyfardens
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 10:44:19 AM
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A three-and-sixpenny hat cost three and six (= three shillings and six pence).

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thar
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:13:30 PM
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In pre-decimal money (before 1971 in Britain) there were 20 shillings to a pound, and twelve pence in a shilling.
(And people were very good at mental arithmetic!)

Prices were given in shillings and pence, as _ and _
So you have three and six, or three and sixpence.

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towan52
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:20:21 PM
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vkhu wrote:

Quote:

And then they go to the Primitive Chapel in their two-guinea hat, girls as would have been proud of a three-and-sixpenny one in my day.

I know sixpenny is a type of old coin, but what of the "three" preceding it? Doesn't sound like the hat costs 3 sixpennies.

Now should read: And then they go to the Primitive Chapel in their two-pound - ten pence hat, girls as would have been proud of a seventeen and a half pence one in my day.

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thar
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 12:55:47 PM
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Or £61.19 , converting the buying power of 2 guineas from 1925 to 2004.

Assuming 'in my day' was 35 years earlier, then 3'6 in 1890 would have the buying power of £10 now (2004).
But only £5.24 if you take it from 1925.
Centuries with no inflation then it skyrocketsthree-and-sixpenny - English Vocabulary - English (4)
The earliest date the National Archive converter allows is 1270 - and 3'6 from then is still only £93 today. three-and-sixpenny - English Vocabulary - English (5)

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Харбин Хэйлунцзян 1
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 1:55:56 PM
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thar wrote:

Centuries with no inflation then it skyrocketsthree-and-sixpenny - English Vocabulary - English (7)

You do not know what it means when it skyrockets. I thought I knew - this is the cost of 1 pound in rubles:

http://www.cbr.ru/currency_base/dynamics.aspx?VAL_NM_RQ=R01035&date_req1=01.01.1992&date_req2=31.12.1997&rt=2&mode=2

But then there is Zimbabwe:

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-33105400

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Gary98
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 2:12:30 PM
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Per Wiki: The guinea was a coin of approximately one quarter ounce of gold that was minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814. Googled "gold price per ounce", got $1,322.30. 2 guineas is about $661.15 toady.

So their 2-guinea hat cost about $661.15 toady. Some hat then, some hat now.

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Харбин Хэйлунцзян 1
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 2:25:40 PM
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Gary98 wrote:

Per Wiki: The guinea was a coin of approximately one quarter ounce of gold that was minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814. Googled "gold price per ounce", got $1,322.30. 2 guineas is about $661.15 toady.

So their 2-guinea hat cost about $661.15 toady. Some hat then, some hat now.

https://www.thefreedictionary.com/guinea

Quote:

n.
a. A gold coin issued in England from 1663 to 1813 and worth one pound and one shilling.
b. The sum of one pound and one shilling.

And it's just that in the given context:

https://books.google.com/books?id=c9eYsi8oyNEC&printsec=frontcover

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Sarrriesfan
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 4:58:53 PM
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Gary98 wrote:

Per Wiki: The guinea was a coin of approximately one quarter ounce of gold that was minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814. Googled "gold price per ounce", got $1,322.30. 2 guineas is about $661.15 toady.

So their 2-guinea hat cost about $661.15 toady. Some hat then, some hat now.

Given some of the materials used in making expensive ladies hats it's not too surprising.

Feathers from birds of paradise, ostriches and other exotic birds were used, and lace trimmings would be hand made ( a craft my grandmother used to do for our lcal hat making industry) each one would take many hours to make.

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thar
Posted: Thursday, January 4, 2018 5:15:58 PM
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The guinea as a coin is long gone, but it is still used for pricing, with the fixed value of 21 shillings old money, which means £1.05 in new money (as was shown earlier).

Race horses are priced in guineas, not pounds. But the money is paid in pounds...or riyal. And not in cash unless the buyer is really dodgy three-and-sixpenny - English Vocabulary - English (12)

Quote:

A female horse today claimed a world record as the most expensive one-year-old filly sold at auction after she was bought for £5.25m

The record-breaking one-year-old was described by the auctioneer as "truly a collector's item" and bidding opened at 500,000 guineas (£525,000).

The filly was bought by Mandore International for Al Shaqab Racing, which is owned by the Qatari royal family.

Offers soon passed the 2 million guineas mark at which point Mandore stepped in to battle John Magnier, the multi-millionaire businessman and Ireland's premier thoroughbred stud owner.

Horse races are also sometimes called the x guineas, from the prize money, although that has risen while the name of the race may stay the same.

I know some places still have shillings as their basic currency, not pounds, like Kenya and Tanzania.
Ignoring Austria which had schillings pre-Euro, but obviously the same root as, not offspring from, British shillings.

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Romany
Posted: Friday, January 5, 2018 2:02:49 PM
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I don't know if that cited explanation of a guinea coin was clear enough:-

The value of price charged in guineas - right up to whenever England went decimal - made a considerable difference to an item. A dress at the time priced at 39 Guineas, would thus cost 39 pounds AND 39 shillings. It was as if the shillings didn't really matter. Yet that would have been more than a working class family earned in a week.

So it had a sort of social cachet too: only those to whom money was no worry would quote prices in guineas. Those to whom every shilling counted would never be so daft!

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Gary98
Posted: Friday, January 5, 2018 9:14:40 PM
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Guinea is as romantic as pound is mundane in my imagination although I have no experience with using either.

If I were to travel in England, the place must be countryside, with my sword at by side, and several guineas in my pocket. Or, are they in my moneybag?

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Romany
Posted: Saturday, January 6, 2018 11:22:31 AM
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Gary - they'd be in your Purse (a small draw string pouch) tied (hopefully) to your girdle (belt.) But, as a traveller, you would probably have got some woman to sew them into your clothes before you left home!

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