Wow! late Saturday afternoon and NO answers yet. What do you guys do
when such a weighty question stares you in the face?

A little help: 4 quarters = 1 cwt (hundredweight = 112 lbs)
20 cwt = 1 ton (112 x 20 = 2240 lbs = 1 ton)
and then:
4 farthings = 1 penny
12 pence = 1 shilling (and for interest, 2 shillings = 1
florin, 2 shillings and sixpence = a half-crown,
5 shillings = 1 crown)
20 shillings = 1 pound ( and let us not forget the
illustrious 1 guinea = 1 pound and 1 shilling)

it surprises me not at all that you guys below the 49th. said "the hell
with it" and split. The tea tax was just an excuse I think.
regards, Mike in BC

I used to love those old arithmetic questions like:

If a quarter cwt of coal costs one pound 3 shillings and 4 pence three
farthings, what would be the cost of 5 tons 13 cwt and 3 quarters?
regards, Mike in BC