Excerpt from The Paper Pound of 1797-1821: A Reprint of the Bullion Report
When war broke out with France in February, 1793, the pound sterling, which with its subdivisions, the shilling and the penny, formed the "? s. d." in which all English money accounts and contracts were expressed, was (as it was again from 1821 to 1014) interchangeable with 123? grains or nearly 8 grammes of 22 carat (i.e. eleven-twelfths fine) gold. Owing to variations in the rating of the gold and silver coins which took place long before, there was indeed no gold coin representing ?1, but the gold coins called guineas (because the gold from which the first issue of them was made came from the Guinea Coast) passed for twenty-one twentieths of ?1, half-guineas for twenty-one fortieths, and seven-shilling pieces for seven twentieths, and these gold coins were all legal tender to any amount at those rates. One troy pound of 22 carat gold was coined into 44? guineas, and anyone who had gold could demand that the Mint should coin it for him at that rate, but in practice he found it better to accept the slightly lower price, ?46 10s. the pound or ?3 17s. 6d. the ounce, given on the spot by the Bullion Office of the Bank of England.
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