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£sd (occasionally written Lsd) is the popular name for the pre-decimal currencies once common throughout Europe, especially in the British Isles and hence in several countries of the British Empire and subsequently the Commonwealth. The abbreviation originates from the Latin currency denominations ''librae'', ''solidi'', and ''denarii''.〔C. H. V. Sutherland, ''English Coinage 600-1900'' (1973, ISBN 0-7134-0731-X), p. 10〕 In the United Kingdom, which was one of the last to abandon the system, these were referred to as ''pounds'', ''shillings'', and ''pence'' (''pence'' being the plural of ''penny''). When spoken it was pronounced "ell-ess-dee", or more commonly "pounds, shillings and pence". This system originated in the classical Roman Empire. It was re-introduced into Western Europe by Charlemagne, and was the standard for many centuries across the continent. In Britain it was King Offa of Mercia who adopted the Frankish silver standard of ''librae, solidi'' and ''denarii'' in the late 8th century, and the system was used in much of the British Commonwealth until the 1960s and 1970s, with Nigeria being the last to abandon it with the introduction of the naira on 1 January 1973. Under this system, there were twelve pence in a shilling and twenty shillings, or 240 pence, in a pound. The penny was subdivided into four farthings until 31 December 1960, when they ceased to be legal tender in the UK, and until 31 July 1969 there were also two halfpennies in circulation. The advantage of such a system was its use in mental arithmetic, as it afforded many factors and hence fractions of a pound such as tenths, eighths, sixths and even sevenths if the guinea (worth 21 shillings) was used. When dealing with items in dozens, multiplication and division are straightforward; for example, if a dozen eggs cost four shillings, then each egg was priced at fourpence. As countries of the British Empire became independent, some (like the United States) abandoned the £sd system quickly, while others retained it almost as long as the UK itself: Australia, for example, only changed to using a decimal currency on 14 February 1966. Still others, notably Ireland, decimalised only when the UK did. The UK abandoned the old penny on Decimal Day, 15 February 1971, when one pound sterling became divided into 100 new pence. (This was a change from the system used in the earlier wave of decimalisations, in Australia, New Zealand, Rhodesia and South Africa, in which the pound was divided into two of a new major currency called the 'dollar' or 'rand'.) The British shilling was replaced by a 5 new pence coin worth one twentieth of a pound. For much of the 20th century, £sd was the monetary system of most of the Commonwealth countries, the major exception being Canada. Historically, similar systems based on Roman coinage were used elsewhere; e.g. the division of the livre tournois in France and other pre-decimal currencies such as Spain, which had 20 maravedis to 1 real and 20 reals to 1 duro or 5 pesetas.〔 〕 ==Origins== In the classical Roman Empire, standard coinage was established to facilitate business transactions. 12 denarii were rated equal to 1 gold solidus – a 4th-century Roman coin that was rare but which still circulated; and, since 240 denarii were cut from one Roman ''libra'' of silver 240 denarii, therefore, equalled one pound (''livre'' in France, ''peso'' in Spain, etc.). Following the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, new currencies were introduced in Western Europe though (Eastern) Roman currencies remained popular. In the Eastern Roman Empire, the currencies gradually evolved away from the solidi and denarii. In the 8th century Charlemagne re-introduced and refined the system by decreeing that the money of the Holy Roman Empire should be the silver denarius, containing 22.5 grains of silver. As in the old Roman Empire, this had the advantage that any quantity of money could then be determined by counting (telling) coins rather than by weighing silver or gold. Different monetary systems based on units in ratio 20:1 & 12:1 (L:S & S:D) were widely used in Europe in medieval times.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Handbook of medieval exchange; Introduction )〕 The English name ''pound'' is a Germanic adaptation of the Latin phrase ''libra pondo'' 'a pound weight'.〔''Oxford English Dictionary'', ''s.v.'' 'pound'〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「£sd」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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