pence

Multiple Entries:
  pence    penny  

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
pence /pens/ Brit.

plural form of penny (used for sums of money).

usage: The two plural forms pence and pennies tend to be used for different purposes: pence refers to sums of money (five pounds and sixty-nine pence.) while pennies refers to the coins themselves (I left two pennies on the table.). It is a mistake to use pence rather than penny in the singular to refer to one penny: the chancellor will put one pence on income tax.

Concise Oxford English Dictionary © 2008 Oxford University Press:
penny/ˈpeni/

▶noun (pl. for separate coins pennies, for a sum of money pence)

• 1 (abbrev.: p) a British bronze coin and monetary unit equal to one hundredth of a pound.

  ■ (abbrev.: d) a former British coin and monetary unit equal to one twelfth of a shilling and 240th of a pound.

  ■ N. Amer. informal a one-cent coin.

  ■ (in biblical use) a denarius.

• 2 [with neg.] (a penny) no money at all.

– phrases
be two (or ten) a penny chiefly Brit. be plentiful and thus of little value.
in for a penny, in for a pound expressing an intention to see an undertaking through, however much time, effort, or money this entails.
pennies from heaven unexpected benefits.
the penny drops informal, chiefly Brit. one finally realizes something.
a penny for your thoughts a request to someone to say what they are thinking about.

– origin OE penig, penning of Gmc origin; perh. rel. to pawn2 and (with ref. to shape) pan1.

usage: On the different uses of the plural forms pence and pennies, see usage at pence.