Old money

This morning I went to Panzers in St John's Wood, which has a rather excellent grocery stall outside. Inside is far more cramped with only space for three people at any one time. Today the other two were Eve Pollard and her husband Nick Lloyd.

I worked with Eve on the Sunday Express Magazine in the late eighties.

Behind the counter I noticed a fabulous old National cash register, and talking to the grocer about it realised I didn't know what the D or d (meaning old penny stood for).

At home and with the aid of the internet I can tell you that D stands for Denarius, a Roman silver coin. This is because when Henry II introduced the currency, a penny was literally a penny weight of silver.