What does baubee mean?
Baubee is a historical piece of British slang denoting a shilling, the twelve-penny coin of pre-decimal currency. The word circulated chiefly in colloquial speech during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, appearing in dialect writing, ballads, and street talk alongside other coin names such as 'bob'. Like much money slang, it lent colour to everyday transactions — haggling over a baubee, earning a few baubees, or declaring something not worth one. It is closely related to the Scots word 'bawbee', which originally referred to a small copper coin; the two terms share an origin but came to denote different values in different regions. Today baubee is obsolete as circulating currency has changed, but it retains value for readers of period literature and students of English dialect, offering a vivid window into the everyday economic language of past centuries.
nounAn old British slang or dialectal term for a shilling, used especially in the 18th and 19th centuries.
- A former British slang or dialectal name for a shilling.
"He handed the coachman a baubee for his trouble."
"The loaf cost him a baubee at the baker's stall."
"She wouldn't part with her brooch for less than five baubees."
Standard pluralization by adding -s.
"The whole evening cost him barely three baubees."
A single baubee could once buy you a night's lodging — this humble slang word for a shilling echoes through Dickens-era street talk.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of baubee
Baubee derives from the Scots word bawbee, a term for a base-metal coin whose name is generally traced to French 'bas billon', meaning low-grade silver alloy. As the term passed into English dialect use, its value shifted, and in England it came to be applied to the shilling. It flourished in colloquial British speech during the Georgian and Victorian eras before fading with old coinage.
How baubee is actually used
Baubee is obsolete in modern usage and survives mainly in historical fiction, dialect literature, and discussions of pre-decimal British currency. It carries a colloquial, working-class flavour rather than formal register.
Easily confused with baubee
Bawbee is the original Scots term for a halfpenny (later sixpence), while baubee is the English dialectal variant applied to a shilling.