h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Firstly, I think it should be called 'Old British Money', because the Scots and the Welsh (and for a time, the Irish) have been a part of Great Britain for most of the time period that's being described here.

Secondly, does anyone know exactly when farthings ceased to be legal tender? I'm sure that I remember using them around 1960, and I think they went out in 1961, but friends say it was in the mid 50s.

Oh, and I don't think anyone answered this one - a pony is 25 quid, and a monkey is 500. Also, 10 is a cockle (cock and hen - ten), twenty is a score (obviously), and 100 is a century, or a one-er.

Thanks for the second posting. I've been askking this for weeks. I'm not changing the title for two reasons 1) Scots and Welsh money has always had lots of differences. I don't know about Northern Ireland. 2) If you change a title once the article's gone for editing (which this one seemingly has) the conversations attached to it disappear.

Ok, but prepare yourself for an onslaught of irate non-English British people. Some of them are quite happy to bash the English for their arrogance in calling the whole of the country 'England', like my friend Pete who is from a small town in the valleys, and who still catches me out from time to time

Republic of Ireland money, which definitely isn't English, and doesn't consider itself British, followed very similar lines to your English money. We also had farthings, ha'pennies, pennies and so on. Ours looked different, with a harp on one side and an animal on the other, but it was worth exactly the same, since our currency was tied to Sterling with a 1 to 1 exchange rate. English coins circulated in Ireland along with the Irish ones and were just as acceptable.