I'm editing a novel set in 1930s England, written by an American author, and have been editing out any Americanisms I come across. I just read a line of dialogue containing the idiom "as neat as a pin" (meaning clean and tidy). I've never heard of this before; is it an American phrase, or have any other Brits out there heard of it? All I can find of it online is that it originated in the early 19th C. with the development of mass production.
If it is in fact an American phrase, what would be an appropriate British English equivalent in keeping with the book's setting? "As nice as ninepence" perhaps?