Hmmm...and now I wait

So, perhaps I celebrated (rather foolishly, it seems) a little too early. UNC has given me permission to enroll at King's. King's, however, received my application today (the 20th) and will take some time to review it. Ah well, so now I wait. Saket went through a similar experience this spring when Lund University took forever in getting back to him. In the meanwhile, I have not been idle and have done some preliminary research on housing, transportation, etc, you know, trying to be a good student and actually prepare for my (quite likely) time abroad.
I feel as though I am turning into something of an Anglophile, though I have found some occasion to dispel those notions. The whole incident with the Elgin marbles from Greece (think Parthenon friezes) and especially some of India's finest diamonds deviously stolen (Hope diamond, anyone? Not to mention the whole centuries-of-colonization thing...) would be enough to make some cast a wary eye on those island inhabitants. You can blame the want of tact of Lord Elgin for the theft of those sacred marbles and the egomaniacal/greediness of the colonizers for the subjugation of India. However, I would love for someone to give me a good reason for the following:
4 farthings = 1 penny
12 pence/pennies = 1 shilling
2 shillings = 1 florin
5 shillings = 1 crown
20 sh. = 1 pound/sovereign
21 shillings = 1 guinea
240 pence = 1 pound
halfpence/halfpenny = two farthings
twopence/tuppence = 1/6 shilling or half groat
4 pence = 1 groat = 1/3 shilling
sixpence = 1/2 shilling
26 pence = 1/2 crown
1 quid (Col.) = 1 pound
1 tanner = sixpence = 1/2 shilling
3 deniers (Fr.) = 1/2 farthing
1/2 penny = 1 sou (Fr.)
1 bob (Col.) = 1 shilling
1 noble = 8 shillings + 4 pence (8/4) = 100 pence = 5/12 pound
L/s/d = pounds/shillings/pence
Fr. = French Col. = colloquial
And the Brits often think we're crazy...To be fair, though, the British decimalized (a real word, mind you) their monetary system early in the 1970s. A pound is now equivalent to 100 pennies (new pennies, as they are called) and they've all but done away with many of the minor divisions. I should note as well that back when the British Empire was at its height (when the sun never set on it and such) the pound was worth a great deal more than it does today. Hence, the smaller divisions were equivalent to our five and ten dollar notes. For example, at one point, the British silver penny was worth what a pound sterling is worth today! And a penny was only 1/240th of a pound! British currency went through a whole flurry of devaluations due to wars and recessions (most notably the Great Depression of the early 20th century) and today the pound sterling (basically, the pound) is worth about $1.77 (www.xe.com).
As a side note, the pound gets its funny looking "L" symbol from the Latin "L" for librum which means pound. The pound got its name from the weight in silver of a particular sized coin. The "s" for shilling is not its first letter but comes from the Latin solidus which means, not surprisingly, solid. The "d" for pence comes from the Latin denarius which was a small silver coin that was the most common coin in the Roman Empire. See? Read my blog and get free history lessons!
For someone claiming to be only a lukewarm Anglophile, I seem to have spent an inordinate amount of time researching Britain's monetary system. Well, I did so more out of curiosity sake (I should learn a thing or two about the people whose country I'll hopefully be invading shortly before I do so) and so that I can better understand my Shakespeare readings. Several of his puns depend on an understanding of the monetary system (most notably on "sovereigns" and "nobles") and I want to be able to understand at least some of the puns without having to consult the footnotes. And yes, I may be the only person you know who concerns herself about such a thing. I'm an English major; it's what we do.
Anyway, I feel as though I've rambled enough for today and will call it a night. Cheers!