Shilling (redirected from take the King's shilling)

shilling

1. a former British and Australian silver or cupronickel coin worth one twentieth of a pound: not minted in Britain since 1970

2. the standard monetary unit of Kenya, Somalia, Tanzania, and Uganda: divided into 100 cents

3. an old monetary unit of the US varying in value in different states

4. Scot an indication of the strength and character of a beer, referring to the price after duty that was formerly paid per barrel

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Shilling 

(1) A British coin and monetary unit in use until the decimal monetary system was introduced in February 1971; equal to 12 pence, or 1/20 pound sterling. Shillings were minted in silver until 1946 and in a copper-nickel alloy until 1971. They circulated in British colonies and in the countries of the Commonwealth, including Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland, where they constituted 1/20 of the local monetary unit.

(2) The monetary unit of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda since 1966 and of Somalia since 1960; equal to 100 cents. According to the rate of exchange set by the State Bank of the USSR in January 1978,100 Somalian shillings = 11.37 rubles.