The lucky Sixpence

The first sixpence was minted in the reign of Edward VI 1551 and the last general issue was in 1967, though the sixpence remained legal tender until 1980.

Until 1920 sixpences were silver to the 925 mark or 92.5% silver or sterling silver.
From 1920 to 1946 the silver content was dropped to just 50% and then in 1947 they were made from copru-nickel which is an alloy of copper and nickel with traces of either iron or more likely manganese.

The old wedding rhyme :

Something old, something new,
Something borrowed, something blue
And a silver sixpence in your shoe

Was over the years whittled down in such a way as to loose the “And a silver sixpence in your shoe” mainly because sixpences were not being struck in silver any more.

Many say that the tradition of putting a silver sixpence in to a brides shoe was to bring the couple wealth during their married life.  There are those that also suggest that it dates backs to Elizabethan times when it was traditional to bend a sixpence and give that as a token to your loved one.

Some say is a carry on from the practice of the early 1600's it was customary for the Lord of the Manor to give his bride a piece of silver as a wedding gift. Which was later represented by a sixpence coin.

Which ever started the tradition it is still popular today.

Another superstition about sixpences is the placing of them in the Christmas pudding, which is certainly the one I remember the most from my childhood, and indeed it is thought to have started out as a way to encourage the kids to eat their Christmas pudding.

James II is said to have struck sixpences along with other values coins to help fund his part in the Irish civil war, with the tokens being struck from what was said to be Gun Metal in the form of the real coins and on the promise that they would be exchanged for the real thing once the war was won.  However he lost, and the tokens remained in circulation for sometime after.  (The gun metal is also said to have really been Bell Metal on account no one going to war would melt down guns to make coinage).

On the subject of making sixpences from metals other than what they should have been made i.e. counterfeit it was an offence that could and did cost people their lives.

A famous case heard at the Old Bailey, central criminal court,  London on the 25th May 1814 cost the two ladies their lives.  For Mary  Dunn aged 70 and Mary Leonard aged 38 were both found guilty of the offence of “Coining” which was regarded as “an offence against the King” or treason.  They were said to have made two coins and two bases to strike extra coins from and upon conviction were sentenced to death.  Treason in those days was punishable for women by burning at the stake.

An old Australian folk song was written about the sixpence and in the song the singer refers to having sixpence and sending twopence of it to his wife, it is interesting to see as the verses go on which sum he gives up last.

I've Got Sixpence

I've got sixpence
Jolly. jolly sixpence
I've got sixpence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend
And twopence to lend
And twopence to send home to my wife-poor wife.

CHORUS: No cares have I to grieve me
        No pretty little girls to deceive me
        I'm happy as a lark believe me
        As we go rolling, rolling home
     Rolling home (rolling home)
     Rolling home (rolling home)
     By the light of the silvery moo-oo-on
     Happy is the day when we line up for our pay
     As we go rolling, rolling home.

I've got fourpence
Jolly, jolly fourpence
I've got fourpence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend
And twopence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife-poor wife.

I've got twopence
Jolly, jolly twopence
I've got twopence to last me all my life
I've got twopence to spend
And no pence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife-poor wife.

I've got no pence
Jolly. jolly no pence
I've got no pence to last me all my life
I've got no pence to spend
And no pence to lend
And no pence to send home to my wife-poor wife.

Seems the wife was never to have the money.

Other popular sayings about a sixpence are;

“Can turn on a sixpence” and “can stop on a sixpence” both of which refer to the sixpences size and is a brag about the abilities of an object or machine and in moderns times it is attributed to the motor car.  Of course the penny and half penny in older times were much larger than the sixpence.