Change for a Shilling
Change for a Shilling card game by Geo. Wright & Co., London, c.1910-1926.

As traditional Chinese playing cards are derived from money, this children's card game has a long and noble ancestry. The New and Exciting Game of Change for a Shilling was produced by Geo. Wright & Co., London c.1905 - 1926. The game was apparently devised in order to sharpen the mental faculties. Each card bears a value in old English money ranging from ½d to 8d and the game involves players calling when cards on the table add up to one shilling. [Note: the abbreviation for the old penny, d, was derived from the Roman denarius, and the abbreviation for the shilling, s, from the Roman solidus. The shilling was also denoted by the slash symbol / , also called a solidus for this reason and used today in website addresses, and was originally an adaptation of the long s.]
The old English monetary system became obsolete in 1971 when decimal coinage was introduced.



Above: Change for a Shilling card game by Geo. Wright & Co., London, c.1910-1926. Several editions are known, some of which carry the date 1926 on the coin illustrated on the box and rules card, others are undated. The back design is a blue/white geometric pattern with a drawing of a shilling coin in the centre which also appears on the box. (Click the box to zoom)
Geo. Wright & Co also published ‘Sky’ and a board game titled ‘Colorito’.

By Simon Wintle
Member since February 01, 1996
View ArticlesCurator and editor of the World of Playing Cards since 1996. He is a former committee member of the IPCS and was graphics editor of The Playing-Card journal for many years. He has lived at various times in Chile, England and Wales and is currently living in Extremadura, Spain. Simon's first limited edition pack of playing cards was a replica of a seventeenth century traditional English pack, which he produced from woodblocks and stencils.