Still used for racehorses too, Karen: "The going for the racing industry has changed from firm to soft since last year. Even at the Tattersalls yearling sales in October, prices were still strong. Despite other asset values falling, horses were selling at record prices in 2008. The average at last year's Newmarket Craven Breeze Up sale – the "breeze up" is the test run along the course – was 102,448 guineas or £107,570, some 40 per cent higher than the previous year's average. "The top price in last year's Craven sale was 470,000 guineas for a chestnut filly. Yet at this month's Craven sale, the average price was just 74,443 guineas, a 27 per cent reduction on last year, and this week's Guineas Breeze Up auction is expected to reflect a similar collapse in prices." http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/analysis-and-features/racehorse-prices-pull-up-in-final-stretch-1674159.html And for sheep too. See: http://www.stackyard.com/news/2009/03/sheep/01_blackface_show.html I don't think guineas are used for just run-of-the-mill, everyday livestock trading, though, just for the expensive beasts. I guess it's just the survival of a traditional way of pricing, which will presumably vanish if Britain ever adopts the euro. Norman T.