threepenny bit

British  

/ ˈθrʌpnɪ-, ˈθrɛp-, -ənɪ /

noun

1. a twelve-sided British coin of nickel-brass, valued at three old pence, obsolete since 1971

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

threepenny bit

The paper's lead story says the £1 coin is to be scrapped in favour of a new design "shaped like an old threepenny bit".

From BBC ● Mar. 18, 2014

I especially loved the threepenny bit for its dodecagonal - 12-sided - weirdness, its brass and nickel sallow yellow gleam and the crowned portcullis on its back.

From BBC ● Apr. 30, 2010

I handed him a threepenny bit; but though I waited for twenty minutes, he offered me no change.

From The War of the Wenuses by Charles L. (Charles Larcom) Graves

"He says every Monday morning his father gives him a threepenny bit and his mother's always giving him pennies."

From An Australian Lassie by A.J. (Alfred J.) Johnson

Maria, however, insisted upon giving an old-fashioned threepenny bit, kept as a luck penny in the centre of her purse, in exchange.

From The Garden, You, and I by Mabel Osgood Wright

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