50 years today

[arrgee]

1971 was not the first attempt at decimalisation in Britain. Ignoring the introduction in 1968 of the 5p and 10p coin, a decimal coin was first minted and circulated in 1849 with the introduction of the florin or 'two-bob' coin of which there were 10 to the £. The coin continued to be minted up to 1970. Obviously the Victorian government of the day thought decimalisation too radical and decided to put any further decimal coinage experiment on hold until weaker resistance prevailed.

[brianh]

Decimalisation certainly greatly contributed to inflation, largely because of the trick of continuing to use the Penny as a unit of currency. In the old pound there were 240 pennies to the pound but with decimalisation the powers that be changed this to a handy 100 new pence. So immediately 1new penny was the equivalent of 2.4 old ones and what was originally sold for the old sixpence now "only" cost 2 and a half new pence (they did experiment with new half pennies for a while but most of those ended up in the gutter). So by putting the sixpenny item up to 5 new pence it sounded cheaper than the old sixpence but was in reality twice the price, being the equivalent of the old shilling! (if my maths is right!).
Having said that though, I must admit pre-decimal money was, looking back, nightmarishly complicated compared to decimal.

[jimmycowman]

I can't really remember the change over but can remember using the sixpence at two and a half pence up until 1980.

[brigham]

When I was a kid, money went up in twelves and twenties, and everyone could count money.
Now, money goes up in tens and hundreds, and everyone needs a calculator.

[coppinpr]

I worked in a business that dealt with the public and cash all day every day and I had been working for 6 years when the change came.(excuse the pun) Two things stick out in my mind. part of my job was to go to the bank, pretty much every day, and get change, usually, 5 bags of 1d coins were part of every trip, I had decided to collect 1d coins from as many dates as possible in as good a condition as possible some years earlier and I would sort through every bag of pennies exchanging ones I didn't have and better quality ones for ones I didn't need. that all ended 50 years ago today, I still have the collection of 1d coins.

The other thing I remember was getting that first day's change in NP, this included 5 bags of half new pence coins. We assumed we would need that many because that was how many 1d coins we had been using. Years later when the half p was removed from circulation I threw away 3 of those original bags of coins..they were never needed!

The post above about the original attempt at decimalization is only partly correct, the florin was not the government's idea it was an early idea of Price Albert. The government didn't like what they saw as him interfering and worked hard to block any further moves in that direction. But the prince had the last laugh ,the "2 bob bit" or "florin" survived in circulation right up till 1990, 19 years after decimalization

[arrgee]

We talk about coinage but that was only one aspect of decimalisation, the other was weight and measures. When I started work in the 1960s we had inches, feet and yards and when working in my first architects office as a junior, I well remember measuring a field for a housing development in chains! we also used an imperial tape for short measurements but the chain was the 'de facto' piece of equipment for long measurements, not a chain in the normal sense but a series of long links of precise measurement (see pic).

As with the old currency, I liked our heritage of feet and inches, pounds and ounces, but I have to say that moving over to metric in architecture was a godsend, having multiples of 12 inches to one foot and 3 feet to one yard could be a nightmare whereas working to base 10 in metric was simplicity itself.

Interestingly, we still have remnants of our historical past with us today, in horse racing the guinea (£1-10 shillings) is still used as too is the furlong which is precisely 10 chains and of course we still refer to miles for linear measurement of distance - long may this reign!

[coppinpr]

we still have remnants of our historical past with us today, in horse racing the guinea (£1-10 shillings) is still used as too is the furlong which is precisely 10 chains

you forgot the most important one of all..a cricket pitch is 1 chain long.
(a guinea is £1-1 shilling (21 shillings) not £1.10 shillings (30 shillings) all horses sold at auction are still sold in guineas, in theory, the seller only receives £1 for every guinea the horse sells for, the other 5p is the auctioneer's commission

[brigham]

The guinea is 21/-, or 105 new pence, not thirty bob.
On the rare occasions I bet on horses, I always wager a whole number of guineas.
Same when I sponsor people for charity events.
Creeping metrication was not part of decimalisation. It was a Common Market issue, and involved the indoctrination of our children.
We had to ASK our masters in Brussels if we could keep our own measurements. They let us keep yards and miles for road distances, and pints and gallons, but just for beer, cider and milk. A pound of sausages is now called "four hundred and fifty-four gram(me)s", a great improvement, I don't think.
Are you aware that first generation motorways were built to accommodate either-side running?
I don't know how we survived as a nation. Maybe there IS a God.

[coppinpr]

the measurement I miss most of all is, without doubt, the gallon. I still want to know how much a gallon of petrol is and how many miles a car does to a gallon, and not a US gallon either...an imperial one !!!

[brigham]

The motor manufacturers quote consumption on miles per gallon.
At self-service petrol stations I used to pause at 4.54 litres, to see the gallon price.
I gave up when it got to six quid. I don't enjoy feeling sick.

[livinginthepast]

Tyres are measured with the diameter in inches and the rest in metric??

Motorcycle chains are still measured using fractions of inches although pins and rollers seem to be metric.

[arrgee]

a guinea is £1-1 shilling (21 shillings) not £1.10 shillings (30 shillings

Typo Paul, out of practice writing £ s d after 50 years !!

[arrgee]

I don't know how we survived as a nation

Because we are 'British' ........ I always refer to my-self as 'English'

[brigham]

British by birth, English by the Grace of God...

[coppinpr]

British by birth English because thats the same as God

[arrgee]

I do love this jingoism I know its the union flag but could not find a St George emoji - any got one

[arrgee]

Ok found one

[brianh]

Going back to decimalisation, I had stopped playing the slots by that time (starting new job got in the way ) so was only used to the old penny machines. What happened with the changeover? Did the operators immediately convert their machines to take new pence in which case any punters putting the same number of new pennies in as they did old ones, (old habits die hard) would be automatically spending £2.40 for every £1 they spent before Great little earner for the operators

[brigham]

That's what most of the ones I frequented did.
It was an obvious swizz. The grown-ups still only gave you a shilling, but overnight you only got five goes, instead of twelve.
It effectively devalued the pound by almost two-thirds.

[arrgee]

Not sure about the amusement industry Brian, but at the time I had a part-time job in a grocery shop (if you have seen Open All Hours then this corner shop could easily have been the basis for the programme!) and it was a nightmare converting/changing prices of products into decimal equivalent. I well remember giving change to an elderly lady who lived close by the shop, and when she received the new coinage she outright refused to accept it and demanded 'proper money' as she said !!

The old folk especially, must have been so confused by it all