Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. £10.

1934		P. Allingham Cheapjack 191: The word ‘cockeren,’ I found, meant a tenner.
1938		F.D. Sharpe Sharpe of the Flying Squad 330: cock and hen (a) : A £10 note.
1943		M. Harrison Reported Safe Arrival 126: I reckon we oughter cop a cock-an’-’en ’tween us.
1959		F. Norman Fings I i: Take this cockle round to Vernon’s. See it gets there an’ all.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 57: He’d [...] live on the odd cock-and-hen between being in the nick.
1968		J. Barlow Burden of Proof 224: These petty billiard room boys get bothered if they lose a cockle.
1975		‘P.B. Yuill’ Hazell and the Three-card Trick (1977) 62: Gannex peeled out a fourth and then a fifth tenner. Five cockles!
1989		(con. 1950s–60s) in G. Tremlett Little Legs 73: Give us a cock and hen.
2000		J.J. Connolly Layer Cake 152: Some muppet who pays a cockle for a tuna salad.
2002		K. Lucas ‘All my life I’ve wanted to be a Barrow Boy’ in Obfuscation News Apr. Issue 20 🌐 It’s yours as a Cheese and Quaver for a Cock and Henner my old China Plate and cheap at the price. No Gregory Peck’s, it must be the Nelson Eddies.

2. a pen.

1934		P. Allingham Cheapjack 191: The word ‘cockeren,’ I found, meant a tenner or a pen, according to context.
1969		S.T. Kendall Up the Frog.

3. (bingo/gambling) the number ten.

1930		(con. 1914–18) Brophy & Partridge Songs and Sl. of the British Soldier.
a.1945		L. Payne private coll. n.p.: 10 Cock & Hen.
1981		P. Wright Cockney Dialect and Sl. 109: 10 = cock(s) an’ ’en.
2001		G. Coughlan Everyday Eng. and Sl. 🌐 cock and hen: ten.
2002		D. Shaw ‘Dead Beard’ at www.asstr.org 🌐 They were a great team but once the old bill caught up with Vince it was Dionne’s testimony that sent him down for a cock and hen stretch.
2011		Spitalfields Life 18 Nov. 🌐 ‘Flo’s line’ is nine, ‘cockle” is ten.

4. a ten-year jail sentence.

1943		J. Phelan Letters from the Big House 59: Done ’is cock-and-hen.
1959		F. Norman in Lilliput 1 Feb. in Norman’s London (1969) 75: I would get a neves the best way and a cockle the worst way.
1972		Dodson & Saczek Dict. of Cockney Rhy. Sl.