View source for Shilling

==British Isles==

===Kingdom of England===
{{main|Shilling (English coin)}}
A shilling was a coin used in England from the reign of [[Henry VII of England|Henry VII]]<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htm|title=Understanding old British money - pounds, shillings and pence|website=woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk|access-date=27 April 2018|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120927031546/http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk/customs/questions/moneyold.htm|archive-date=27 September 2012|df=dmy-all}}</ref> (or [[Edward VI of England|Edward VI]] around 1550). The shilling continued in use after the [[Acts of Union of 1707]] created a new United Kingdom from the Kingdoms of England and Scotland, and under Article 16 of the Articles of Union, a common currency for the new United Kingdom was created.

===Kingdom of Scotland===
The term ''shilling'' ({{langx|sco|schilling}}) was in use in Scotland from early medieval times.

===Great Britain, then the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland===
{{main|Shilling (British coin)}}
[[File:Great Britain, 1853 - 1 shilling, Victoria.jpg|thumb|One shilling, 1853 (reign of [[Queen Victoria]]). Silver, weight 5.64 g.]]
The common currency for [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]], created in 1707 by Article 16 of the [[Treaty of Union|Articles of Union]] between England and Scotland, continued in use until [[Decimal Day|decimalisation]] in 1971. During the [[Great Recoinage of 1816]] (following the [[Acts of Union 1800]] that united the Kingdoms of Great Britain and Ireland), the mint was instructed to coin one [[troy pound]] (weighing 5760 grains or 373&nbsp;g) of [[sterling silver]] (0.925 fine) into 66 shillings, or its equivalent in other denominations.{{cn|date=July 2022}} This set the weight of the shilling at 87.2727 grains or 5.655&nbsp;grams from 1816 until 1990, when it was [[Legal tender#Demonetization|demonetised]] in favour of a new smaller [[Five pence (British coin)|5p]] coin of the same value.

At decimalisation in 1971, the shilling coin was superseded by the [[British five pence coin|new five-pence piece]], which initially was of identical size and weight and had the same value. Shillings remained in circulation until the five pence coin was reduced in size in 1991.

Three coins denominated in multiple shillings were also in circulation at this time. They were:
* the [[Two shillings (British coin)|florin]], two shillings (2/–), which adopted the value of 10 new pence (10p) at decimalisation;
* the [[Half crown (British coin)|half-crown]], two shillings and sixpence (2/6) or one-eighth of a pound, which was abolished at decimalisation (otherwise it would have had the value of 12{{sfrac|2}}p);
* the [[Crown (British coin)|crown]] (five shillings or one-fourth of a pound), the highest-denominated non-bullion UK coin in circulation at decimalisation (in practice, crowns were commemorative coins not used in everyday transactions).

==={{anchor|Ireland}}Irish shillings===
{{more|Shilling (Irish coin)}}
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Between 1701 and the unification of the currencies in 1825, the [[Kingdom of Ireland|Irish]] shilling was valued at 13 pence and known as the "black hog", as opposed to the 12-pence English shillings which were known as "white hogs".<ref>{{cite book |last=Wright |first=Joseph |title=The English Dialect Dictionary |chapter=Hog |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_R8QAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA196 |publisher=Times Book Club |location=London |date=1898 |page=196 |isbn=9785880963072 |oclc=422279387}}</ref>

In the [[Irish Free State]] and [[Republic of Ireland]], the [[Shilling (Irish coin)|shilling coin]] was issued as {{lang|ga|scilling}} (the [[Irish language]] equivalent). It was worth 1/20 of an [[Irish pound]], and was interchangeable at the same value to the British coin, which continued to be used in [[Northern Ireland]]. The coin featured a bull on the reverse side. The first minting, from 1928 until 1941, contained 75% silver, more than the equivalent British coin. The pre-decimal Irish shilling coin (which was retained for some time after decimalisation) was withdrawn from circulation on 1 January 1993, when a smaller five-pence coin was introduced.

===Abbreviation and slang===
[[File:Alice par John Tenniel 38.png|thumb|upright 0.5|The price tag on the [[The Hatter|Hatter's]] hat reads '10/6']]
One abbreviation for shilling is '''s''' (for {{lang|la|[[Solidus|solidus]]}}, see [[£sd]]). Often it was expressed by a [[solidus (punctuation)|solidus symbol]] ({{char|/}}) (which may have begun as a substitute for {{nobr|{{char|ſ}} ('[[long s]]')}}<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.englishproject.org/may-and-slash|title=May and the Slash - English Project|website=www.englishproject.org|access-date=27 April 2018|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171022032353/http://www.englishproject.org/may-and-slash|archive-date=22 October 2017|df=dmy-all}}</ref>) thus '1/9' means "one shilling and ninepence". A price expressed as a number of shillings with no additional [[Penny (British pre-decimal coin)|pence]] was often written as the number, a solidus and a dash: thus for example ten shillings was written '10/-'. Two shillings and sixpence (half a crown, or an eighth of a £) was written as '2/6', rarely as '2s{{nbsp}}6d' ('d' being the abbreviation for {{lang|la|[[denarius]]}}, a penny). The shilling itself was equal to twelve pence. In the traditional [[£sd|pounds, shillings and pence]] system, there were 20 shillings per pound and 12 pence per shilling, making 240 pence in a pound.

Slang terms for the old shilling coins include "bob" and "hog". While the derivation of "bob" is uncertain, [[John Camden Hotten]] in his 1864 ''Slang Dictionary'' says the original version was "bobstick" and speculates that it may be connected with [[Sir Robert Walpole]].<ref>{{cite book|title=Slang Dictionary|date=1864|author=John Camden Hotten}}</ref>