Shakespeare A to Z | Coins and Currency
In Elizabethan England, money consisted of coins, which came in a wide variety of sizes and denominations. Paper money was nonexistent. The pound (£) was the standard unit of exchange, although no coin called a pound actually existed during Shakespeare’s time. Instead, the pound was a measure of weight that was used to represent a sum of money—20 shillings or 240 pence. Coins were minted* in silver and gold, the latter being the more valuable.
Sovereigns were impressive...
[The entire page is 477 words long]