Ray's New Higher Arithmetic · Arts. 182–184 · Unit 11: Compound Denominate Numbers
47. English, French and German money
Goal: Your student reads the old English money table (pounds, shillings, pence, farthings) and knows the franc and mark of 1880 and their values in U. S. money.
You'll need
- The book
- A slate, small whiteboard or scrap paper
- A notebook and pencil
What's in the book
English or sterling money with its table and Latin abbreviations, French money (francs and centimes) and German money (marks and pfennige), each with its 1880 value in U. S. money.
The lesson, step by step
Warm-up
Ask: How many pennies make a pound in Britain today? (100.) In 1880 it was 240.
Sterling
Read:
The pound sterling (worth $4.8665 in U. S. money) is the unit.
The table: 4 farthings = 1 penny, 12 pence = 1 shilling, 20 shillings = 1 pound. The signs £, s., d. come from the Latin words for pound, shilling and penny. This system lasted until 1971.
Francs and marks
Read:
The franc (worth 19.3 cents in U. S. money) is the unit.
The mark, or reichsmark (worth 23.8 cents in U. S. money), is the unit.
Both were decimal: 100 centimes to the franc, 100 pfennige to the mark.
Practice
Your student works out: How many pence in £2 5s.? How many farthings in 1 shilling? What was 10 francs worth in U. S. money? What was £1 worth in marks, to the nearest mark?
Talk about it
Ask: Which of the three systems is easiest to calculate with, and why? (The decimal ones.)
Wrap-up
Your student writes the English money table from memory.
Tip
These exchange values are the book's 1880 figures, not today's.
Answers to the book's problems
Practice: £2 5s. = 540 pence; 1 shilling = 48 farthings; 10 francs = $1.93; £1 = $4.8665 ÷ $0.238 ≈ 20.4, about 20 marks.
Worked out for this site from the scan. If a number in your copy differs, trust the book.