Coins of the United Kingdom in the context of Penny (British pre-decimal coin)

The guinea (/ˈɡɪniː/; commonly abbreviated gn., or gns. in plural) was a coin, minted in Great Britain between 1663 and 1814, that contained approximately one-quarter of an ounce of gold. The name came from the Guinea region in West Africa, from where much of the gold used to make the coins was sourced. It was the first English machine-struck gold coin, originally representing a value of 20 shillings in sterling specie, equal to one pound, but rises in the price of gold relative to silver caused the value of the guinea to increase, at times to as high as thirty shillings. From 1717 to 1816, its value was officially fixed at twenty-one shillings, (one pound and one shilling, £1.05). At 2023 prices, the purchasing power of an 1815 guinea was about £98.

In the Great Recoinage of 1816, the guinea was demonetised and replaced by the gold sovereign. Following the Great Recoinage, the word "guinea" was retained as a colloquial or specialised term, even though the coins were no longer in use; the term guinea also survived as a unit of account in some fields. Notable usages included professional fees (medical, legal, etc.), which were often invoiced in guineas, and horse racing and greyhound racing, and the sale of rams.

The crown was a denomination of sterling coinage worth a quarter of one pound (five shillings, or 60 pence). The crown was first issued during the reign of Edward VI, as part of the coinage of the Kingdom of England.

Always a heavy silver coin weighing around one ounce, during the 19th and 20th centuries the crown declined from being a real means of exchange to being a coin rarely spent, and minted for commemorative purposes only. Unlike in some territories of the British Empire (such as Jamaica), in the UK the crown was never replaced as circulating currency by a five-shilling banknote.

The British decimal one penny (1p) coin is a unit of currency and denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄100 of one pound. Its obverse featured the profile of Queen Elizabeth II since the coin's introduction on 15 February 1971, the day British currency was decimalised, until her death on 8 September 2022. A new portrait featuring King Charles III was introduced on 30 September 2022, designed by Martin Jennings. Four different portraits of the Queen were used on the obverse; the last design by Jody Clark was introduced in 2015. The second reverse, designed by Matthew Dent, features a segment of the Royal Shield and was used from 2008 to 2022. The third and current reverse, featuring a hazel dormouse, was introduced in 2023 following the accession of Charles III. The penny is the lowest value coin (in real terms) ever to circulate in the United Kingdom.

The penny was originally minted from bronze, but since 1992 has been minted in copper-plated steel due to increasing copper prices.

The British pre-decimal penny was a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄240 of one pound or 1⁄12 of one shilling. 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 as one pre-1707 Scottish shilling, thus the English penny was called sgillin in Scottish Gaelic. The penny was originally minted in silver, but from the late 18th century it was minted in copper, and then after 1860 in bronze.

The plural of "penny" is "pence" (often added as an unstressed suffix) when referring to an amount of money, and "pennies" when referring to a number of coins. Thus 8d is eightpence or eight pence, but "eight pennies" means specifically eight individual penny coins.

The British shilling, abbreviated "1s" or "1/-", was a unit of currency and a denomination of sterling coinage worth 1⁄20 of one pound, or twelve pre-decimal pence. It was first minted in 1503 or 1504 during the reign of Henry VII as the testoon, and became known as the shilling, from the Old English scilling, sometime in the mid-16th century. It circulated until 1990. It was commonly known as a bob, as in "ten-bob note", also the Scout Association's Bob a Job Week.

The shilling was last minted in 1966, prior to the UK's decimalisation. Following Decimal Day on 15 February 1971 the coin had a value of five new pence, and a new coin of the same value but labelled as "five new pence" (the word "new" was removed after 1980) was minted with the same size as the shilling until 1990. The five-pence coin was reduced in size in 1990, and the old larger five-pence coins and the pre-decimal shilling coins were both withdrawn from circulation at the end of the year. It was made from silver from its introduction in or around 1503 until 1946, and thereafter in cupronickel.