Barry Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Was reading Farmers weekly last night, and an article on the worlds priciest sheep at 220,000gns. WOOL'd anybody know what a gns is, and could ewe tell me? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lord Ferguson Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 guinneas I believe... just googled the value to check... still £1.05 I believe.. I know horses are sold in Guineas... I assume that all livestock are the same then Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barry Posted September 17, 2009 Author Share Posted September 17, 2009 Ahhh i see, googled guinneas myself and found the value in pound to be the same, so that one sheep was £231,000, bargain! Cheers Marky Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
powerrabbit Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 Ewe were never taught the value of money at shool then Barry. The abbreviation gns after the figure means 'guinneas'. All livestock sold on the hoof at market always used to be sold to the highest bidder in guinneas and a guinnea in old pre-decimal money was one pound and one shilling (£1. 1s.) and you will find, as in the FW mag, a lot of livestock markets still trade live animals in this monetary unit or multiples thereof. This unit of money came into being when the gold coin the sovereign came into being, you may have seen them on the antiques programmes, a pure gold coin a little bigger than a 10p coin with the Monarchs head on one side and on the obverse side is St George slaying the dragon. the coins value was, untill the time of its withdrawl, worth its value in its weight in gold bullion value but with gold now at an all time high it is worth a considerable amount more and are now valued in sceap weight. Occasionally the Royal Mint still produce the coin for collectors on special occasions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 technically a guinea is an old unit of british currency equivalent to 21 shillings or in new money £1.05 i think all pedigree livestock sold at auction is in guineas, not sure why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jdeere6910 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 All pedigree large animals are sold in guineas. They use them instead of auctioneers commision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
intey 434 Posted September 17, 2009 Share Posted September 17, 2009 yea its the auctioneers pay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
archbarch Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 All pedigree large animals are sold in guineas. They use them instead of auctioneers commision. Why just pedigree animals? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ploughmaster Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 I think it's just a historical thing. Originally one Guinea was equivalent to 20 shillings when they were first used in the 17th century, but the price of gold rose and it became worth 21 shillings. It got its name because a lot of the gold they were minted from came from Guinea in Africa. The Guinea remained the major unit of currency until 1816, when it was replaced by the pound. The term 'pound' came about because the Guinea was made from one Troy pound of gold. Guinea has a 'snob' connotation, and for years after it was withdrawn from circulation, Guineas continued to be used for professional fees , tailoring, furniture and land transactions, and is often still used for art and pedigree animals (particularly horses). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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