Using archaic (obsolete) words for decimal penny

So, is it possible to use words such as the "threepence", "elevenpence" etc. for sums in new pence (introduced after 1971)? For example, to read the value of £6.03 as "six pounds and threepence" (pronounced as "threppence" or somehow similar) - how (in)correct it is?

Thanks for the answers.

I'm sorry for my English, it isn't native for me (I'm Russian).

Solution 1:

Twopence, tuppence and threepence do still get said but are fading out of use. Thruppence was uncommon before decimalization and very rare now because there hasn't for a long time been a three pence piece. Pence are such a minor unit of currency now, people don't have so much need to refer to them.

Ngram of all four words shows the decline (at least in books but I think the spoken word has behaved the same way).

For someone to use those words in a foreign accent would be slightly strange. It's mostly the preserve of the elderly more venerable among us who remember the currency before decimalization.

Solution 2:

"threepence", "elevenpence"

are fine for spoken English; 'threppence' is well understood too. Even if the correct form is 3p. 11p. Three pee.

Thruppence will only work if you are talking to the elderly. And even they will be delighted but unable to do the maths if you mention florins (10p), Half-crowns (twelve and a half pence), crowns (25p) (commemorative coinage).

Angels are rare even in Elizabethan historical drama; but are a gimme for 50p.

Guineas (£1:1:0) will probably still be remembered with nostalgia on the race course or the sales-room.

@Avon this very minute has saved me the trouble of adding an Ngram.

Solution 3:

You'll occasionally hear these old fashioned words for numbers of pence in an informal colloquial setting, but it's rare and confined to older people.

Also, some idioms which refer to pre-decimal money are still sometimes heard, for example "twopenny-hal'penny" (pronounced "tuppenny hayp-ny") is a colloquial adjective meaning "cheap, shoddy, or valueless. "A few bob" is an old-fashioned way of saying "a modest amount of money" (e.g. "I was just trying to earn a few bob"). "Bent as a nine bob note" means "very corrupt, totally fraudulent, not at all legitimate" etc. These are all a bit old fashioned but I still hear them among some of my fellow London speakers, especially the older ones.

There are some more colourful terms still. "Threepenny bits" (pronounced "throopenny bits") is rhyming slang for a part of a woman's body.