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Reminds me a bit of how in the UK the guinea coin ceased to circulate decades ago but it's still used for bidding on racehorse auctions. 1 guinea = 1.05 pounds
by cett 3mo ago
Reminds me a bit of how in the UK the guinea coin ceased to circulate decades ago but it's still used for bidding on racehorse auctions.
1 guinea = 1.05 pounds
You purchase the horse in guineas, seller gets paid in pounds, auctioneer keeps the missing 5% as commission.
- flopsamjetsam 3mo agoThat's fascinating, I remember my Dad telling me you would pay for something in guineas as a sort of tip, but I never knew it was for horses (this is in Australia).
- snypher 3mo agoMy grandpa always called horse racing in general "the guineas", but I always assumed it was "the ginnies" for some reason.
- benj111 3mo agoThe guinea was also seen as posher. So guineas were used as a social indicator
- gus_massa 3mo agoI agree. [Time sink warning] [Fractions warning] There is an interesting video by Lindybeige that explains the old British coin system. The part about the guinea is at minute 42, and in particular explains why it was worth 21 instead of 20. https://youtube.com/watch?v=R2paSGQRwvo https://youtube.com/watch?v=R2paSGQRwvo