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Decimalisation In 1971

I was rummaging through a few old things of mine and I came across the following booklet about decimalisation that I am certain many will remember! Myself I was only a month away from being 5 so I don't personally!

I remember Mom and Dad telling me when I got older that a lot of people felt swindled when it all changed over (even though you could get a lot more for your money then compared to today's prices!). A lot found it confusing too, I know I only had to read the back page and I was confused! LOL Anyway enjoy! :)
i kept a flower shop in islington row when decimal came out the goverment supplied us with a large plastic board with the coversion rate on the board , it took a long time to get used to we were swindled, every thing was rounded up up to the new decimal money , even now i am in my 80th year bloody hell 15 bob for a cuppa tea now work that one out blue brummie lol
 
Coincidentally, just been looking through a pile of old coins my wife has 'inherited'

Who else rmrmbers running for a bus, rattling with a few bobs worth of copper weighing your jeans down ? Nostalgias nice, but those old coins sure were big and heavy.

As for the two bob coin being the start of decimal currency - I can remember some of the older ones being Florin's, could be wrong, but surely the Florin goes back donkeys years, like the Groat.
that was the correct name for 2 shilling coin florin was the correct name
 
I remember the 10 bob note was put forward as the new unitary pound, but rejected as pounds didn't change and most of the rest was in effect "tiddlers". I think that big business had a say in that. Over hear in Greece, supermarkets have always rounded to the nearest 5 cents (or lepta as they are known in Greece) and I and many others always reject anything below 5 cents in change. It's not worth the hole it wears in your trouser pocket.

Maurice :cool:
Big business, as in governments, are always open to the idea of change if it puts more money in their coffers. Speaking of pennies...Canada dropped the penny in 2013 and good riddance. The odd amounts are still shown in print form but are rounded out in transactions. When we switched to litres in 1979, it made it much easier to raise prices on gasoline because of the smaller units of measure. Metrication has always made sense in terms of logic, however, I would hesitate to say that it has had a positive or improved effect on life.
Dave A
 
A calculator certainly isn't much used to you, Mort. Remember the old hat sizes of 6 7/8 - what do they use now, or does no one wear a hat where the size matters, just a big woolly sock over your head, though the latter is undoubtedly warmer. ........Now was that £7 19s 11 1/2d per sq ft? :)

Maurice :cool:
 
Hat sizes now seem to be measured in centimetres circumference. I take a 7 5/8”, which I was amused to discover is very close to 24” circumference (61cm. approx). Now, whenever asked for my hat size, I say that I have a two foot head!
 
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Hi Enel,

I worked for a uniform company in the early 90's, and they were already using
centimetre circumference sizes. I remember the commonest sizes were 57 - 59.

Kind regards
Dave
 
I was working on the 58-60 buses the day we went decimal. On the day before it cost 1/1d from the Wheatsheaf to town. On D-Day it was set at 5.5P but, the number of people who offered me 13P ( incorrectly assuming 13P equals 1/1d ) was unbelievable. I had to explain that 13P was in fact 2/8d! I had to explain it all that week and beyond before things went back to "normal". Even now, I'm of the old school and do not fully understand metric. Tell me 5 Metres and I have no idea before I multiply it by 3 and add a bit to visualise approx 16 feet. Tell me 5KG and I have no idea until I multiply it by 2 and add a bit to get approx 11LBS. My kids and Grandkids think this is hilarious.
 
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