Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (Ling. Fr./Polari) one penny; thus oney saltee, one penny; dooe saltee, twopence; tray saltee, threepence; quarterer saltee, fourpence; chinker saltee, fivepence; say saltee, sixpence; setter saltee or say oney saltee, sevenpence; otter saltee or say dooe saltee, eightpence; nobba saltee or say tray saltee, ninepence; dacha saltee or say quarterer saltee, tenpence; dacha oney saltee or say chinker saltee, elevenpence; oney beong, one shilling; beong say saltee, one shilling and sixpence.

1859		Hotten Dict. of Modern Sl. etc. 85: SALTEE, a penny. Pence, &c. are thus reckoned [as def. above].
1861		(con. 15C) C. Reade Cloister and Hearth (1864) II 21: What with my crippledom and thy piety, a-wheeling of thy poor old dad, we’ll bleed the bumpkins of a dacha-saltee. [Ibid.] 24: It had rained kicks all day in lieu of ‘saltees,’ and that is pennies.
1875		T. Frost Circus Life and Circus Celebrities 277: Saulty (penny) may be derived from the Italian soldi, and duey saulty (twopence) and tray saulty (threepence) are also of foreign origin.
1881		Newcastle Courant 2 Dec. 6/6: ‘How much is it?’ ‘Tray beong say saltee’.
1881		Morn. Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld) 18 July 2/6: For our next coin in value [i.e. sixpence] twenty names are found [...] ‘Fyebuck,’ ‘half-hog,’ ‘kick,’ ‘lord of the manor,’ ‘pig,’ ‘pot,’ ‘say saltee,' ’sprat,’ ‘snid,’ ‘simon,’ ‘sow's baby,’ ’tanner,’ tester,’ and ‘tizzy’.
1891		Exeter & Plymouth Gaz. 15 Oct. 6/4: You must give me a ‘oney beong’ (a shilling) a-piece.
1893		P.H. Emerson Signor Lippo 27: I just went to one of my regular padding-kens to sell the mungarly to some of the needies there for nova soldi [Ibid.] 44: One of the troupe intimated a whip round for the cook, so we gave her due soldi apiece. [Ibid.] 47: Alright, give me due beonck quatro soldi per run and I’ll bring you the duckets. [Ibid.] 48: It only costs me cinque soldi and it’s a treat for I get no parkering-ninty. [Ibid.] 54: I’ll take otto soldi, that’s due soldi for baking and six soldi for navs [...] Then he placed a large piece of boiled bacon and dish of greens before three road scavengers, and said, ‘I’ll take setta soldi from you gents’.
1901		Sunderland Dly Echo 9 Apr. 5/3: A penny was known as a ‘saltee’ or ‘oney saltee’ [...] one shilling as ‘oney beong’.
1909		J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era.
1937		Nott. Eve. Post 30 Apr. 6/3: ‘Saltee’ is one of the many words in our slang which were brought into it by the gipsies.
1979		E. Torres After Hours 5: Signora cinque soldi, on every pack, per me, capische?
2019		P. Baker Fabulosa 297/1: salter, saltee, salty, saulty a penny [...] 298/1: soldi a penny.
2023		R. Milward Man-Eating Typewriter 92: The soldi-quartereen, or penny-farthing.

2. a halfpenny [? mis-reading of madza saltee under madza n.].

1922

Dundee Eve. Teleg. 19 July 2/4: [A] halfpenny is a ‘brown’ or a ‘madzer (pronounced ‘medzer’), ‘saltee’ [...] ‘mag,’ ‘posh,’ ‘bawbee,’ or ‘rap’.