Penny (British pre-decimal coin)
The pre-decimal penny (1d) was a coin worth one two-hundred-and-fortieth of a pound sterling. Its symbol was d, from the Roman denarius. It was a continuation of the earlier English penny, and in Scotland it had the same monetary value of one pre-1707 shilling. The penny was originally minted in silver, but from the late eighteenth-century onward it was minted in copper, and then after 1860 in bronze.
The plural of "penny" is "pence" when referring to a quantity of money and "pennies" when referring to a number of coins. Thus a 8d is eight pence, but "eight pennies" means specifically eight individual penny coins.
Before Decimal Day in 1971 twelve pence made a shilling, and twenty shillings made a pound, hence 240 pence in one pound. Values less than a pound were usually written in terms of shillings and pence, e.g. 42 pence would be three shillings and six pence (3/6), pronounced "three and six". Values of less than a shilling were simply written in terms of pence, e.g. eight pence would be 8d.
