A former British coin worth one-twentieth of a pound, or the basic monetary unit of several East African countries.
From Old English 'scilling', related to Old Norse 'skilling' and German 'Schilling'. Originally derived from a root meaning 'to divide' or 'to separate', reflecting the coin's role as a division of larger monetary units. The word has been used for currency for over 1000 years.
Before decimalization in 1971, British currency was famously complex - 12 pence to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound - which actually made mental arithmetic easier for many calculations because 12 and 20 have more factors than 10. Children learned multiplication tables that seem bizarre today, but allowed shopkeepers to quickly divide prices into halves, thirds, quarters, and sixths.
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