OLD money
The decimal switch was surprisingly smooth, despite the centuries of tradition that came before it
Author: Jane Kemp
The decimal switch was surprisingly smooth, despite the centuries of tradition that came before it
Half a crown from your grandparents at Christmas, penny chews from the corner shop and 9d for a copy of Woman’s Weekly… That was back in 1970, before we embraced the seismic upheaval that took place on 15 February 1971. Our ‘old’ money – pounds, shillings and pence – was swept aside, to be replaced by the new decimal system, which counted in 10s and 100s, instead of 12s and 20s. Bank notes stayed the same, but £1 was now worth 100 new pennies, instead of 240 old ones – and shillings were no more...