Decimalisation Day

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jma
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Joined: Fri 05 Aug, 2016 3:38 pm

Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by jma »

volvojack wrote:
Tue 16 Feb, 2021 11:22 am
...
Box of Swan Vestas matches 4d. New price 4p. (nearly a shilling)
This was the case with many things. ...
That was what seemed to light the inflation bonfire.
...Half a Dollar ...

That's more evidence of inflation. Pre-war the dollar was four to the pound so the half-crown then really was worth half a dollar. After Harold Wilson's "pound in your wallet" devaluation the £ was at $2-40. Now, if they'd retained the "old" penny - 1d - and made the new £ worth 100d ie 8/4d then £1 would have had the same value as $1. On paper, things costing a quid would have been listed at £2-40 and the psychological effect would have been to damp down inflation. As it was, the moneymen couldn't stomach the idea of the £ at parity with the dollar. Since fixed exchange rates were scrapped, we've been heading for parity anyway.

As another little example of inflation, somewhere kicking around in my garage I have a small tin of lighter fluid - probably all evaporated by now. The point is that the price - 1/9d - is painted on as an integral part of the decoration of the tine. That says something about steady prices; all swept away in the 1970s.

Hel66
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by Hel66 »

tilly wrote:
Sun 14 Feb, 2021 11:02 pm
Hi Hel66 The reason i say this is when i used my detector i used to find many of them i think too many to be called losses.
Deffo adults then I'm guessing Tilly!

Maybe the ½p's were aimed more at children? (by shopkeepers at least). My childhood memories from the 1970's deffo seemed to feature that coin. Whether it was for sweets or comics.
Image
Just that 'saving' of a ½p meant you could spend the remaining ½p on 4 chews...winning!!!! :D

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tilly
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by tilly »

Hel66 wrote:
Tue 16 Feb, 2021 12:43 pm
tilly wrote:
Sun 14 Feb, 2021 11:02 pm
Hi Hel66 The reason i say this is when i used my detector i used to find many of them i think too many to be called losses.
Deffo adults then I'm guessing Tilly!

Maybe the ½p's were aimed more at children? (by shopkeepers at least). My childhood memories from the 1970's deffo seemed to feature that coin. Whether it was for sweets or comics.
Image
Just that 'saving' of a ½p meant you could spend the remaining ½p on 4 chews...winning!!!! :D
Thanks for your reply Hel66 i would think has you say it would be adults not children, they were taken out of circulation after a while because they were of no value has such.This could have been why a lot were discarded .
No matter were i end my days im an Hunslet lad with Hunslet ways.

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blackprince
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by blackprince »

volvojack wrote:
Tue 16 Feb, 2021 11:22 am

Box of Swan Vestas matches 4d. New price 4p. (nearly a shilling)
I remember an information campaign at the time which said although some prices would rise , due to rounding up, but that the government expected that other prices would be rounded down by sellers to even things out. Fat chance! This was the Heath government btw. They obviously didn't have the behavioural psychologists of SAGE advising them back then :)

volvojack wrote:
This was the case with many things. Got rid of the Threpenny Piece(funny shape) and brought in two odd shaped coins. 20P. 50P.
It was Goodby to "Clods, Tanners,Bobs, Deaners,Tosheroons.Half a Doller, Quid, Nickers plus many more.
There are a few new ones on me on your list Jack:- Clods Deaners and Tosheroons :?:
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

jma
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by jma »

I thought I had a clear memory of James Callaghan announcing that the pound sterling would continue in its existing form. My memory is much better of events when I was younger and this says he made that announcement in his 1966 Budget speech:-

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/date ... 513943.stm

The change was never going to be an overnight job. Having taken the decision to stick with the existing quid, everything else was fitted round that.

In the 1960s, the penny still had significant value. I think that led to the decision to retain the designation of halfpenny for the lowest value coin, even though that was worth 20% more than the old penny. The ha'penny had been no problem for things like the old shop tills (think Ronny Barker in Open All Hours) but at the dawn of the new electronic age - almost - firms were keen to take this opportunity to modernise their equipment and the new halfpenny was doomed.

By significant value, I'm not talking about Capstick, but IIRC in the Summer of 1966, letter post was 4d and people posted a lot more letters

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Ey7SDGrjiM

volvojack
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by volvojack »

Hello There B.P.
Clod 1d.......Deaner a Shilling......Chip a Shilling.......Tosheroon 2/6d

Did not include Threepenny bit / Threepenny Johnny or Half a quid as they were well known to most folks

jim
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by jim »

I wonder if "deaner" is an alternative spelling for dinar, a monetary unit of a number of Mediterranean currencies? The term is itself an adaptation of denarius, a Roman coin. I remember ten shillings being called half a nicker

dogduke
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by dogduke »

Petrol was still sold in gallons so one or two new pence on a gallon was no great problem.
Made a difference when it was one or two pence on a litre.
Is this when the xx.9p a litre became a regular feature in pricing?
Consciousness: That annoying time between naps.90% of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.

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buffaloskinner
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Location: Nova Scotia

Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by buffaloskinner »

Taken from Today's Daily Mail

Every week Money Mail receives hundreds of your letters and emails about our stories. Here are some about our article on the 50th anniversary of 'Decimal Day' (February 15, 1971).


I remember growing up with old money. I loved the threepence: it was the prettiest coin we've ever had.
I used to get sixpence pocket money from my parents and would always spend it on sweets.
M. M., email.

I had a Saturday job as a shop assistant back then and I used to earn one pound and ten shillings for a ten-hour shift.
You could buy ten pints of beer or 160 cigarettes from that.
M. C., London.

It was annoying for people born in the late 1940s and 1950s as they had spent their schooling learning about old money.
Overnight all of that knowledge of the arcane Imperial system became useless.
L. R., Cambridge.

I was the decimalisation clerk at my local bank branch. People would come to me and I would convert their paying-in books before they went to the teller. I'm sure I miscalculated on quite a few occasions!
S. E., Manchester.

My grandmother never got over it. To her, there were always so many points, rather than pennies. I do believe it contributed to a decline in numeracy, as before 'D-Day' children had to understand base 12.
M. B., Liverpool.

As someone who remembers it, decimalisation never bothered me. The only thing that annoys me is when people refer to one penny as one 'pee'.
B.U., Leicester.

That day I was nine years old and had bought my mother an Easter egg and a mug on my way to school. The whole idea of a new currency completely blew my mind.
F. O., London.
Is this the end of the story ...or the beginning of a legend?

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blackprince
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Re: Decimalisation Day

Post by blackprince »

dogduke wrote:
Wed 17 Feb, 2021 2:57 am
Petrol was still sold in gallons so one or two new pence on a gallon was no great problem.
Made a difference when it was one or two pence on a litre.
Is this when the xx.9p a litre became a regular feature in pricing?
The gallon (for fuel) was phased out completely by 31.12.94, although realistically it had been more or less phased out by this time.
Imperial units are still used informally by most of us every day. How many people can tell you the fuel consumption of their car in "litres per 100 kilometers"?
It used to be said that the statue of the Black Prince had been placed in City Square , near the station, pointing South to tell all the southerners who've just got off the train to b****r off back down south!

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