Decimalisation - 50 Years Ago Today

[anonymoususer]

I would have added this to the perfectly titled 35 years ago thread Eric Mc started but it wouldn't let me as its been archived

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...


Anyway its 50 years ago today - Monday 15th February 1971
I only have hazy memories of it pre Decimalisation. I seem to remember old shillings were worth 5p in new money?
I would have been 9 at the time

[abzmike]

I was 5, so remember old money, and my dad coming home with new 1 and 2p coins - very shiny they were. 1 and 2 Shilling coins were revalued as 5 and 10p. My grandfather had a wee leatherwork shop, and had the ubiquitous conversion chart up for about 10 years.

[konark]

I had a tea-towel with all the conversions on which i used up until a couple of years ago.

[Mojooo]

What's your point

[Andy 308GTB]

Was it Radio 4 that had a precocious child called 'Sebastian' explaining the conversion.
In a world of Dave's & Gary's, the name stood out.

[glazbagun]

Andy 308GTB said:

Was it Radio 4 that had a precocious child called 'Sebastian' explaining the conversion.
In a world of Dave's & Gary's, the name stood out.

Sounds like an exchange student:

https://youtu.be/fGjizZCXetk

[dai1983]

Thankfully now in the bin with fractions of inches for measurements.

[bristolracer]

I remember the series 2 Airfix kits going from 3/6 to 17 1/2 new pence, much easier for me as a child to work out how much pocket money needed to be saved.

[RC1807]

Mojooo said:

What's your point

ISWYDT



My Dad was convinced for many years that I used to help him with his sums as he struggled with decimalisation in 1971. I reminded him on many occasions that since I was only 7 months old at the time, it was probably my eldest brother, who'd have been almost 7 years old, that would have helped him! Duffers, eh?

(ETA: since the Euro was introduced, prices were quoted in legacy currencies and € for a year before the switch, and for a couple of years after, and you STILL find much older pensioners in supermarkets with their € calculator working out how much that would be in FRF, or here, LUF/BEF (LUF/BEF 40.3399 : €1, BTW ))

Edited by RC1807 on Monday 15th February 07:48

[Dr Jekyll]

I was about 8 and I remember we'd be doing school work in decimal currency for a couple of years. Which paradoxically made it seem odd to see prices in the shops in p rather than d, it as if they were all using play money.

I think what took some getting used to wasn't decimal currency itself but relating prices in new pence to old pence and shillings. A shilling then (or 5p) was equivalent in spending power to about 70p now, so pounds weren't very relevant to an 8 year old budgeting his pocket money.

Of course the older generation converted everything back to shillings and old pennnies (imperial pennies, new pence for some reason) for years, Into the 1980s they would make exclamations like 'You paid 49p for that? That's nearly 10 shillings!'

[oddman]

54 so dodged a bullet having to add up in LSD. Started learning to count money school with plastic decimal coins

Remember the old coins were kicking around for a long time whether legal tender or not.

The language of the old coinage is probably lost for ever but still survived in my parents generation for about a decade ie. tanner, bob

As far as I remember to lowest value coin to cross over was the sixpence (2 1/2p). The old penny coin seemed massive in comparison with 1p. The threepenny bit was a chunky polygonal coin the size and colour of £1. It lives on as rhyming slang so still legal tender in this household.

[Spare tyre]

Do you think we’d all cope if it happened today

Imagine the Twitter!

[witteringon]

I was there!

5/- was a dollar, when a pound was worth 4 dollars.
2/6d was half a crown, itself a relic from when a crown was in circulation.
A sprat or sprazi as well as a tanner was used for 6d

And 'two bob bits' survives as rhyming slang, albeit not as savoury as threepenny bits.

[ARHarh]

I was 7 at the time and remember it well.

I remember Mum driving us to see my Dad in hospital after a car crash and stopping for petrol. We were in an Austin Cambridge lent to my Dad whilst his Capri was in for some substantial crash repairs. On returning to the car she gave me and my brother and sister a shiny new 2p each. We also had to change from imperial to metric at school.

[Eric Mc]

I was 12 when it all happened so pretty well tuned in to the changeover. The transition had actually begun in 1968 when some of the old notes and coins began to be replaced. For instance, the following coins were already in circulation before 15 February -

5p (replaced the 1 shilling)
10p (replaced the 2 shilling)
50p (replaced the 10 shilling note)

I was brought up in Ireland but Ireland changed on exactly the same day as the UK. The decision to "go decimal" was made in 1966 and what a lot of people don't remember now is that it was part of the long term plan to make the UK and Ireland more acceptable regarding its application to join and integration into the EEC.

[Buster73]

When I was at junior school a girl in our class had some obscure family connections which ended up all in our class seeing the new coins well before the change over date.

I can still remember looking at shiny new coins for the first time ever.

[fourfoldroot]

Who spent theirs then!

[irocfan]

I missed out on the fun being 56 (now, not then!) and spending chunks of my childhood in, decimalised, Germany. I do, vaguely, remember maths teacher complaining that mental arithmetic would go to pot (and she wasn't wrong!!)

[jet_noise]

Warning: Max Bygraves content.
There was even a song about it.

[JMGS4]

Being one of the older ones here, I regret the passing of guineas, never mind the pounds shillings and pence.
I started my first "occupation" at 2 1/2 guineas a week... as I do regret the passing of gentlemens outfitters, tailors and shoemakers...... and gentlemens only bars