While discussing tipping in England, Effie asks Crabtree if a shilling is more or less than a farthing. Crabtree replies that he doesn't think anyone knows.
Actually, there is actually a significant difference between the coins that virtually anyone in England at the time would recognize.
A farthing was only worth one quarter of a British penny, while a shilling was worth 12 pence, so it took 48 farthings to make one shilling.