Half a crown

Half a crown

The phrase "half a crown" was used before currency decimalisation in the United Kingdom to express the value of two shillings and sixpence as in, for example, "That will cost you half a crown."cite book |editor=H. W. Fowler and F. G. Fowler |title=The Concise Oxford English Dictionary |origyear=1964 |accessdate=2007-04-29 |accessyear=2007 |accessmonth=04 |edition=Fifth Edition |year=1972 |publisher=Oxford University Press ] The phrases "half a crown" and "two and six" were commonly used in preference to the more formal "two shillings and sixpence". The half crown coin was worth half a crown.

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  • half-crown — (also half a crown) ► NOUN ▪ a former British coin and monetary unit equal to two shillings and sixpence (121 / 2p) …   English terms dictionary

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