It was 50 years ago today...

The government introduced the decimal coinage, BUT despite advice from banks, financial institutions and people with experience in these matters, blundered ahead by basing it on the £ instead of the 10/- (Ten shillings - HELLO 10 - decimal!!!!).

NO, "The Pound" is sacrosanct and that's what it must be - f**king wankers, which caused a lot of confusion for years, because it meant that now 20p. Is that 2/-? NO! It's DOUBLE THAT, it's actually 4/-. WHEREAS, if they'd listened to people in the know and based it on the 10/- (HELLO 10 - decimal!!!) 20p would be 2/-, 30p 3/- etc. etc. and you could then still call it a Pound if you wanted to.
It's all academic now of course, but millions were confused and many traders etc. used the anomaly to charge more. "Oh, that 20p is 2 bob (2 shillings) is it?"

"Yes, my love. Lovely cheap apples! Only 20p for 6"

I also remember the date so well, as it was my birthday.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 15th February 2021, 9:48 AM

The government introduced the decimal coinage, BUT despite advice from banks, financial institutions and people with experience in these matters, blundered ahead by basing it on the £ instead of the 10/- (Ten shillings - HELLO 10 - decimal!!!!).

NO, "The Pound" is sacrosanct and that's what it must be - f**king wankers, which caused a lot of confusion for years, because it meant that now 20p. Is that 2/-? NO! It's DOUBLE THAT, it's actually 4/-. WHEREAS, if they'd listened to people in the know and based it on the 10/- (HELLO 10 - decimal!!!) 20p would be 2/-, 30p 3/- etc. etc. and you could then still call it a Pound if you wanted to.
It's all academic now of course, but millions were confused and many traders etc. used the anomaly to charge more. "Oh, that 20p is 2 bob (2 shillings) is it?"

"Yes, my love. Lovely cheap apples! Only 20p for 6"

I also remember the date so well, as it was my birthday.

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Happy birthday. Those were the days when you could appreciate sheer beauty with a basic shout of "get your tits out for the lads" while enjoying nuts and whelks and bovril. Don't get me wrong. I like a furry mascot like the next bloke and frequently put quids in its bra and panties for charitable causes. But it isn't the same is it. Nowadays I have to justify wearing hobnail boots on the basis of snow so as to prove my orientation credentials and while I do toss farthings from my pockets to needy wastrels, I am acutely aware that those were banned long before decimalisation. It is a scientific fact that cocks and fannies are both measurable via the twelve times table and tens don't come into one or indeed out of the other. Now yawn and put on your jim-jams, good chap. If you want to stay up, sorry but I ain't having none of your shrapnel.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 15th February 2021, 9:48 AM

The government introduced the decimal coinage, BUT despite advice from banks, financial institutions and people with experience in these matters, blundered ahead by basing it on the £ instead of the 10/- (Ten shillings - HELLO 10 - decimal!!!!).

NO, "The Pound" is sacrosanct and that's what it must be - f**king wankers, which caused a lot of confusion for years, because it meant that now 20p. Is that 2/-? NO! It's DOUBLE THAT, it's actually 4/-. WHEREAS, if they'd listened to people in the know and based it on the 10/- (HELLO 10 - decimal!!!) 20p would be 2/-, 30p 3/- etc. etc. and you could then still call it a Pound if you wanted to.
It's all academic now of course, but millions were confused and many traders etc. used the anomaly to charge more. "Oh, that 20p is 2 bob (2 shillings) is it?"

"Yes, my love. Lovely cheap apples! Only 20p for 6"

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Ah but it was a matter of prestige to have the basic unit of currency worth more than the dollar.

Yet now our smallest 'silver' coin 5p is worth less than that new farthing that only lasted a decade. Our 1p and 2p coins are effectively worthless, just pocket ballast nowadays.

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 15th February 2021, 9:48 AM

I also remember the date so well, as it was my birthday.

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You are fishing for condiments aren't you...

The charm of coins was also taken away.
They all had a nickname.

I remember catching a train early that day with the new money and thought I'd be totally prepared.

I was totally confused when the ticket office clerk quoted the price.

Happy Birthday.

Fifty years ago!The old chap in the corner shop in our street refused to accept the new money and would only price things in pounds shillings and pence.His good lady wife being more practical,as usual,put a stop to it though.

Quote: john tregorran @ 15th February 2021, 6:37 PM

Happy Birthday.

Fifty years ago!The old chap in the corner shop in our street refused to accept the new money and would only price things in pounds shillings and pence.His good lady wife being more practical,as usual,put a stop to it though.

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Thank you

And yes, I also remember people, like greengrocers, only still selling stuff in pounds and ounces.

And here's Max Bygraves....

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jCiEzQ4EGk4

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 16th February 2021, 12:27 AM

Thank you

And yes, I also remember people, like greengrocers, only still selling stuff in pounds and ounces.

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What else is there? Seriously I still don't understand metric weights and measures.

Quote: Chappers @ 16th February 2021, 9:58 PM

What else is there? Seriously I still don't understand metric weights and measures.

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It seriously pisses me off when they only talk in metric on programmes such as The Strongest Man in the World and only give their height and weight metric. What about all the people like ourselves (AND younger) who only understand stones/pounds or feet/inches when spoked of in descriptions. Grrrrrrr

Saying someone is 1.83 metres tall is no f**king good to me!!!

Quote: Hercules Grytpype Thynne @ 17th February 2021, 12:53 AM

It seriously pisses me off when they only talk in metric on programmes such as The Strongest Man in the World and only give their height and weight metric. What about all the people like ourselves (AND younger) who only understand stones/pounds or feet/inches when spoked of in descriptions. Grrrrrrr

Saying someone is 1.83 metres tall is no f**king good to me!!!

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or 180 pounds in the USA. Why can't they have stones as well.

Quote: Chappers @ 17th February 2021, 5:41 PM

or 180 pounds in the USA. Why can't they have stones as well.

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At least they have "imperial" measurements, which I've never fully understood as their currency is basically metric.

50 years on and I am still constantly doing conversion tables in my head.

ie the newborn baby weighed in at 3 Kilo
Right that's 3 X 2.2..... so the baby was 6.6 pounds, ah 6 and half pounds.

Even when I fill my car up and put 35 litres in I still say that's about 7 gallon so I can check what mpg my car is doing.

Quote: Stephen Goodlad @ 18th February 2021, 8:22 AM

50 years on and I am still constantly doing conversion tables in my head.

ie the newborn baby weighed in at 3 Kilo
Right that's 3 X 2.2..... so the baby was 6.6 pounds, ah 6 and half pounds.

Even when I fill my car up and put 35 litres in I still say that's about 7 gallon so I can check what mpg my car is doing.

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I honestly don't know how to. Just talk in English. Anyway following Brexit we should go back to imperial measurements.

Quote: Chappers @ 18th February 2021, 9:12 PM

I honestly don't know how to. Just talk in English. Anyway following Brexit we should go back to imperial measurements.

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Actually NO. It is better that we stay with the measurement systems used in the Scientific community, besides which anyone younger that the 50 years of decimailization & metrication would almost certainly find extreme difficulty in getting used to the old system.

Decimalization of Currency and metrication of measurements were not directly related to joining the ECC.