Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a shilling.

1856		H. Mayhew Great World of London I 6: I’ve got a teviss (shilling) left in my clye (pocket).
1861		(con. 1840s–50s) H. Mayhew London Labour and London Poor I 217/2: I give below a vocabulary of their talk to each other: [...] Teviss .... A shilling.
1870		Hotten Sl. Dict.
1877		J. Diprose London Life 80: [as cit. 1856].
1881		Morn. Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld) 18 July 2/6: For a shilling there are many names but nearly all slang. [...] ‘Breaky-leg,’ ‘brongs,’ ‘bobs,’ ‘bordes,’ ‘drawers,’ ‘gens’, ‘hogs,’ levys,’ ‘pegs,’ ‘stags,’ ‘Shigs,’ ‘twelvers’ and ‘teviss’s’ .
1925		(ref. to 1850s) Western Mail (Perth) 28 May 21/1: [from Daily Mail, London]At the time of the Crimean War bob was only one of a number of terms [for a shilling] such as twelver and breaky-leg, gen and teviss, stag, deaner, hog and levy.

2. a sixpence.

1858

A. Mayhew Paved with Gold 71: ‘Come, lad, have a bit o’ scran, and I’ll stand a shant o’ gatter, I’ve got a teviss here;’ and then, suddenly remembering that he was no longer talking to one of his own fraternity, he added, ‘I meant to say, have a bit of this here vittals, and I’ll pay for a pot of beer, I’ve got a sixpence.’.