What it does
Before decimal money, British coins counted in pounds, shillings and pence (£sd) and Indian coins in rupees, annas, pice and pies. Old price tags, bills, coin catalogues and family papers still use them. This tool adds up an old amount and shows it in decimal money, and it works the other way too.
The British side takes pounds, shillings, pence and farthings and gives the total in old pence, decimal pounds and new pence. The Indian side does the same for rupees, annas, pice and pies and gives decimal rupees and naye paise. A table lists the old British coins in old and new pence. Look up the year on a coin with coin dates, and see what its metal is worth with melt value.
How to use it
- Pick British or Indian money.
- Type the amounts you have. Leave a box at 0 if there is none.
- Read the total and its decimal value.
- To go back, type old pence (British) or decimal rupees (Indian) in the “Or start from” box.
What each setting does
- Farthings: each is a quarter of an old penny, so 2 farthings is a halfpenny.
- Old pence: the single unit that everything is added up in. 240 of them make a pound.
- Pies, pice, annas: 3 pies make a pice, 4 pice an anna, 16 annas a rupee.
Worked example
£2 2s 6d is 2 × 240 + 2 × 12 + 6 = 510 old pence. That is £2.125 in decimal, or 212.5 new pence. For India, 1 rupee 8 annas is 192 + 96 = 288 pies, which is 1.5 rupees or 150 naye paise.
FAQs
What would this buy today? That needs an inflation figure for the year and place. This tool converts units only.
Is a guinea 21 shillings? Yes, 252 old pence. It stopped being a coin long ago but prices were still quoted in guineas.
Why do some Indian coins show a different split? Older coins before the anna system used other divisions. This tool covers the rupee, anna, pice and pie as above.
Is anything stored? No. The sums run in your browser.
Where the numbers come from
- British £sd: 12 pence to the shilling, 20 shillings to the pound (240 old pence), decimalised on 15 February 1971 when £1 became 100 new pence.
- Indian currency: 16 annas to the rupee, 4 pice to the anna, 3 pies to the pice (192 pies), decimalised from 1 April 1957 to 100 naye paise to the rupee.
Standard scientific values, such as constants, atomic weights and melting points, are facts found in every textbook; we name where ours were checked. If you are an author or publisher and want a value, a credit or a table changed or removed, tell us and we will act quickly.
Last updated 2026-11-10.