Fifty years of decimalisation

[nickyboy]

I guess the shilling/penny system was great when the vast majority of people never had £s to worry about. For so long as you're living in a world of just shilling and pennies it's better than decimalised currency as you can split the shillings more easily

So perhaps it was inflation that was the death knell of "old money"? As soon as it became common to be dealing in £.s.d the complexities of multiplication and division meant decimalisation was inevitable

 

[Donger]

I remember being given that plastic wallet gift set containing one of everything. The very day it became legal currency I ripped it open and got myself straight down the corner shop. Probably went on Curly Wurlies and a can of Cresta.

 

[Aravis]

There was not much work to do on the day. Half crowns, sixpence and three pence pieces had been taken out of circulation.

Half crowns and ha'pennies had all gone before the big day, but threepenny bits (and pennies) were still around. In the event they didn't last long as they weren't normally given as change. So most of them would be involved in one post-decimalisation transaction from which they would head for the melting pot.

The fate of the sixpence was a little different. As it theoretically had a place in the decimal system it was the subject of a successful campaign for its indefinite retention. It was soon clear that a 2½p coin was superfluous in the new system and they were rarely seen, but they didn't officially become extinct until 1980.

I miss the old money. It had such character. Finding the rare dates in circulation was such a thrill.

A couple of artefacts. Firstly, a currency converter, incorrectly calling itself a calculator. You look at the amount you want to convert, then tip it forwards or backwards to see the converted equivalent. It's credit card sized and works remarkably well:

And here is an extract from a leaflet detailing changes to postal rates. For anyone claiming that decimalisation would be used as an excuse for price rises, here is all the evidence you need. Amongst other things, a straight 50% hike in the second class letter rate.

 

[Gunk]

Fun twitter thread here from the daughter of the designer of the coins, about the design process and how as a small child she nearly trashed it all.


View: https://twitter.com/IronsideKate/status/1360959039379750913?s=19

J

Base 10 really is a poor choice. Granted we've 10 fingers, but really ! 12, 16 or 8 would be far better all round

I was 6, I remember learning all about it at primary school. We still had 2 shilling coins for years afterwards. They were only phased out when the smaller 10p was introduced

 

[JohnHughes307]

I was doing a paper round at the time and I had to collect the money on a Friday night. Prior to decimalisation, the evening papers had been 6d each and most people had six papers a week, making their weekly bill 3 shillings.

At the point of decimalisation the Newspaper proprieters (The Hull Daily Mail and the Yorkshire evening post) took the opportunity to raise their prices to 3p each. The first Friday after decimilisation was a nightmare - it took me over three hours to get around (it normally took an hour) as I kept having conversations along the lines of
"Nah then, I've worked it out - we get six papers a week and each one is 3p. Now six threes are eighteen pence and eighteen pence is one shilling and sixpence and one shilling and sixpence is seven and a half pence, so here you go" At which point they would hand over half the amount that they had paid the previous week...

It was a long Friday night!

 

[Jenkins]

As a 6 year old at the time, I became the chief price converter for my gran until she'd got the hang of the new fangled money.

 

[DRM]

I remember going to the corner shop with my pocket money for some sweets and getting a shiny 1 New Penny in my change, however even now at work, when going to the coffee machine pre decimal Yorkshire complaints are some times heard “How much! 7 Bob for a bloody Coffee!, it were only 6 Bob last time

 

[Profpointy]

Mil for million

By thou' I was referring to a thousandth of an inch not a thousand

 

[Mrs M]

I was 4, almost 5.
Remember the programmes on our black and white TV about decimalisation

 

[Yellow Fang]

We should bring pounds, shillings and pence back. What do you reckon the lowest, still useful coin is? If it's 5p, then if you make a farthing worth 5p, a £ would be worth nearly £50, which is a decent amount of money.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

We should bring pounds, shillings and pence back. What do you reckon the lowest, still useful coin is? If it's 5p, then if you make a farthing worth 5p, a £ would be worth nearly £50, which is a decent amount of money.

Probably not by this time next year.

 

[Yellow Fang]

I don't remember when decimalization happened. However, I read Jack's Return Home (Get Carter) which was written about 1970. I reckoned prices had increased 40x since then. A pint of beer cost about 11d, so about 5 new pence. Actually, I doubt you can get a pint of beer for £2 in Newcastle these days. Let's make a farthing worth 10p, then a pound would be worth £96. Before decimalization, I don't suppose many people actually saw pound notes that often. By the end of the 70s we'd got used to them.

 

[FrankCrank]

Remember this?

Max Bygraves DECIMALISATION - YouTube

Surprised that wasn't an entry for the Eurovision song contest

 

[FrankCrank]

I remember being given that plastic wallet gift set containing one of everything. The very day it became legal currency I ripped it open and got myself straight down the corner shop. Probably went on Curly Wurlies and a can of Cresta.

Long as it wasn't squandered

 

[Accy cyclist]

I remember two coins from 1968,at infant/junior school. One was a 'new' ten pence, the other was a Spanish peseta. The first one was shown to us as a 'what's to come' example. The second was brought back by a girl who'd been to Spain on holiday. You'd think she'd been to the moon,such was the interest in her 'unbelievable holiday'!