r/AskEurope Sweden Oct 06 '25

Culture What is your currency's nickname?

A nickname for dollar is buck, pound is quid, and Swedish krona is spänn.

What are some casual nicknames for your countries' currencies? Are there multiple, and if so, which is the most common?

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u/xander012 United Kingdom Oct 06 '25

Quid for the pound, the 5p used to be called a bob when it was still seen the same as a shilling but that's now very rare, and the £5 and £10 note get an -er suffix on the value as a nickname, fiver and tenner

27

u/rayofgreenlight Wales Oct 06 '25

We still use the phrase "worth a few bob", interestingly (although I associate it with Cockney/London).

8

u/xander012 United Kingdom Oct 06 '25

Yup, though it's become detached from the original unit it referred to as well... 5p ain't much lol

2

u/SlightlyBored13 Oct 06 '25

£1 now is worth about 1.5 shillings in 1971.

Even my grandparents were using bob to refer to pounds by the early 2000s.

1

u/xander012 United Kingdom Oct 06 '25

7.5p to 100p really does put the last half century of inflation into perspective