Unofficial Christ's Hospital Forum

Here's another one - 11+ exam 1951:

Complete the series:

1/4, 1/2, 1, 3, 6, 12, 24

That was the old version; the new version is

1 ,2, 5, 10, 20

Your mind has to work in a peculiar way to spot this but given the comments on this thread there should be plenty who get it.

old - 30
new - 50. ?

it`s easy really (and i hope I`m right!!)

Mrs C. wrote:old - 30
new - 50. ?

it`s easy really (and i hope I`m right!!)

Nicely done Mrs. C. Certainly you have the right idea though as is said to pupils "Read the Question" which was "complete the series". Old should be 30, 60, 240 or alternatively 30, 60, 120, 240, 1200 and a few more as well. Almost unbelievably the latter option actually ended at 240,000,000 which will puzzle not a few mathematicians.

Could you have done that at the age of 11 when the largest you had seen was probably 3?

Sorry you were not up to coming into Horsham on Weds; trust you are OK now.

Believe it or not, I did read the question - just couldn`t be bothered to go past the first figure - enough to know I was on the right lines!! (perhaps I should have put ........ after my answers!)

Sorry to have missed meeting you in Horsham - perhaps next time - and yes, I`m fine again now - thank you!!

petard249 wrote:Concerning crowns and guineas.
I believe that there may have been a very, very small number of crown coins, but I certainly never, ever saw one and I doubt very much that they were ever on public issue. As to guineas, although it is correct that 1 guinea = 21 shillings, I do not believe that there ever was either a coin or a note for such an amount. It seems to have been used mainly among the horse-racing fraternity, but why, I do not know.

I have quite a number of crown coins, which were issued on commemorative occasions, my earliest being a 1951 Festival of Britain. My father got them, probably for him, although he claimed they were for me to collect.
I havve never tried to use them as cash as they mainly come in commemoration boxes, which weigh heavy in the pocket.

The guinea
A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).

So there!

It is curious how coin names travel.
In Costa Rica, where the British laid and ran the railway line from San Jose to the Altantic coast, at Limon, the local currency is the colon.
However, locally 5 colons used to be known as una libra (one pound), since at one time a pound sterling was approximately 5 colones.
In a similar vein, seis reales (6 reales) was equivalent to 75 cents of a colon, coming from the Spanish, pieces of eight, where 8 reales made up a colon.
The Argentines have similar expressions, although mainly related to the dollar.
The only one that springs to mind is that of a Palo Verde (Green stick) used by exchange dealers when referring to one million dollars.
Sorry, bit off thread here but...
A last coin red herring.
To the best of my knowledge, the only country to have a 3 cent coin in decimal currency, is El Salvador. From 1's, 2's, 5's and 10's you can make up any combination amount with a minimum of coins. That's the theory anyway.

jhopgood wrote:A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).

Miller replies:
John, I found that really interesting, as I had not heard all that before, especially about the barristers. One lives and learns!

jhopgood wrote:

petard249 wrote:Concerning crowns and guineas.
I believe that there may have been a very, very small number of crown coins, but I certainly never, ever saw one and I doubt very much that they were ever on public issue. As to guineas, although it is correct that 1 guinea = 21 shillings, I do not believe that there ever was either a coin or a note for such an amount. It seems to have been used mainly among the horse-racing fraternity, but why, I do not know.

I have quite a number of crown coins, which were issued on commemorative occasions, my earliest being a 1951 Festival of Britain. My father got them, probably for him, although he claimed they were for me to collect.
I havve never tried to use them as cash as they mainly come in commemoration boxes, which weigh heavy in the pocket.

The guinea
A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).

So there!

What would a woman have been paid then????

Mrs C. wrote:

petard249 wrote:Concerning crowns and guineas.


The guinea
A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).

So there!

What would a woman have been paid then????

I think that race horses are still priced in guineas.

As for women, my mother used to refer to a shilling up Tottenham Court Road, but more seriously women really only started working in offices from around the 1930's

As for Jhopgood's quote "However, locally 5 colons used to be known as una libra (one pound), since at one time a pound sterling was approximately 5 colones" in the markets in "my" area of France 500 grammes is referred to as a libre (or pound, though a pound is closer to 434grammes).

Mrs C. wrote:

jhopgood wrote:

petard249 wrote:Concerning crowns and guineas.
I believe that there may have been a very, very small number of crown coins, but I certainly never, ever saw one and I doubt very much that they were ever on public issue. As to guineas, although it is correct that 1 guinea = 21 shillings, I do not believe that there ever was either a coin or a note for such an amount. It seems to have been used mainly among the horse-racing fraternity, but why, I do not know.

I have quite a number of crown coins, which were issued on commemorative occasions, my earliest being a 1951 Festival of Britain. My father got them, probably for him, although he claimed they were for me to collect.
I havve never tried to use them as cash as they mainly come in commemoration boxes, which weigh heavy in the pocket.

The guinea
A guinea was £1-1s-0d (which is £1.05) and could be written as '1g' or '1gn' or, in the plural, '3gs' or '3gns'. It was considered a more gentlemanly amount than £1. You paid tradesmen, such as a carpenter, in pounds but gentlemen, such as an artist, in guineas. It was a tradition in the legal profession that a barrister was paid in guineas but kept only the pounds, giving his clerk the shillings (they were all men then).

So there!

What would a woman have been paid then????

I presume it depends which trade or profession she was in.

sejintenej wrote:I think that race horses are still priced in guineas.

As for women, my mother used to refer to a shilling up Tottenham Court Road, but more seriously women really only started working in offices from around the 1930's

As for Jhopgood's quote "However, locally 5 colons used to be known as una libra (one pound), since at one time a pound sterling was approximately 5 colones" in the markets in "my" area of France 500 grammes is referred to as a libre (or pound, though a pound is closer to 434grammes).

Racehorses (and greyhounds) are priced in guineas, not sure why, will try to find out as husband in the business.

A pound is 454g

L.s.d is Libra Solidus Denarius

Guineas were always used ( perhaps still are in some circles ) in the medical profession - my father always invoiced in guineas, and I remember, as late as 1973 , seeing a Harley street specialist and receiving his bill later in guineas. Considered more "gentlemanly"

Just out of passing interest, the term "guinea" is still used in horseracing where there are two "1,000 Guinea" races in England per year, plus one in India and another in Dubai. There may well be others elsewhere, for all I know - I am not into horse-racing since the incident at Catterick races in 1958. The prize money for the English race is £320,000 which seems to be somewhat ahead of the rate of inflation!

petard249 wrote: I am not into horse-racing since the incident at Catterick races in 1958.

Now I'm fascinated, what was the incident?