dice and pence

[Prof R.H.P. Wright]

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The British usage of "pence" is also singular; you hear "one pence" more
often than "one penny", though "one p" is much commoner than either
now. I haven't yet heard anyone refer to two pences, though.
                                RW


>A couple of points to add to the discussion: (1) 'dice' is not unique,
>since we also have 'pence' alongside the regular plural 'pennies'; (2) the
>regular plural 'dies' also occurs in the metal working trade.
>
>Originally 'dice' meant the pair of dice that are thrown in gambling with
>dice, and 'pence' meant a sum of money or a coin, as in the now archaic
>British terms tuppence, threppence, and sixpence (spellings to indicate
>the traditional pronunciations for two-, three-). It appears to have been
>an attempt to establish an internal plural (group plural, dual, etc) that
>never took root in the grammar of the language. pens/pence is a minimal
>pair that shows that the regular plural marker is phonologically /-z/.