Image talk:Tostal quarter stamp.gif

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[edit] Page name is incorrect

This stamp has a value of One shilling and four pence. Therefore, the name of the page cannot be considered correct. How about An_Tostal_1s_4d

In the old £.s.d. currency, amounts written in shillings and pence (but without pounds) were typically written with a slash between the shillings and pence. Amounts of full shillings and no pence used a dash in place of zero for the pence amount. In the body of printed text, a slash is acceptable. On signs, and in display advertising the slash was usually wedge-shaped, extending above but not below the figures. The stamp illustrates this form. Note also the slightly smaller size of the pence figure.

Another way of writing this amount is: 1s. 4d. The abbreviations come from Latin "solidus" and "denarius".

Spoken aloud, the value would be "one and four" or "one and fourpence". Occasionally, a very fastidious persion might be heard saying "one shilling and fourpence".

Perhaps someone confused the value with a farthing, one-quarter of a penny. If that had been the case, the stamp's value would have been written "¼p" (or perhaps "¼d").

I suggest this image, and the related page be renamed.

By the way, An Tostal was an exhibition, probably modeled after the Festival of Britain. "An" means "The" in the Irish language. My opinion is that the article is probably an integral part of the name. Monomoit (talk) 02:24, 27 January 2008 (UTC)