Anyone Else Remember

[tforturton]

I can remember when they 'called in' the old halfpenny, because we gathered them all up and went down to Mrs Dibble's shop (junction of Plassey Street and Albert Road, Penarth) to blow them all on sweets.
And that's another thing - Black Jacks, Fruit Salads, Parma Violets, humbugs, Bazooka Joe bubble gum, flying saucers, Spanish Root, Pirates Gold, sweet cigarettes....

[splott parker]

I can remember when they 'called in' the old halfpenny, because we gathered them all up and went down to Mrs Dibble's shop (junction of Plassey Street and Albert Road, Penarth) to blow them all on sweets.
And that's another thing - Black Jacks, Fruit Salads, Parma Violets, humbugs, Bazooka Joe bubble gum, flying saucers, Spanish Root, Pirates Gold, sweet cigarettes....

A few of those you mentioned came in the ‘4 for a 1d’ category, did that become ‘4 for 1/2p’? Which would still have been an unavoidable price increase, 1/2p being 1.2d, buggers, ripping off the kids

[BlueToujours]

The old florin before 1938 I think had a significantly higher value because of its silver content. Back in the 60's there was quite a market in selling them to certain people who would melt them down and reclaim the silver. All strictly illegal of course. Defacing a coin of the realm etc.

Also 5 shillings was called a dollar as at the time there were 4 Dollars to the pound. My Dad and Uncles always referred to it as that so naturally I did as well.

[xsnaggle]

Pounds, shillings & pence were a great test of mental arithmetic and reckoning up, I’ll stick my neck out here and say that us fossils who were used to the different mixed denominations, 240d to the £, 12d to a shilling etc are better at maths mentally due to this. Strange how 50 years have gone by yet I still say 30 bob rather than the boring One Pound Fifty. Reading about old coins the other day and was surprised to find out that a tanner was previously nicknamed a bender, due to the high silver content it was easy to bend. In the 19th century it was easy to go out and get pissed on 2d, so with 6d you could get hammered, hence the term ‘going on a bender’.

I agree about the mental arithmetic but it wasn't only money. 16 ounces to pound, 14 pounds to a stone 8 stone to a Cwt, 20 cwt to a ton lol. A barrel, a ferkin, a tun, a gross, then you had feet and inches (Yes we still have) chains, poles, furlongs, leagues and many more.
And the names of coins, tanner as you said, thrupence thrupenny bit, florin half a crown/dollar, ha'penny, tuppence, shilling, ten bob. I can still recall old guys in the pub calling a pound a sov.

[Steve the Tea]

Pounds, shillings & pence were a great test of mental arithmetic and reckoning up, I’ll stick my neck out here and say that us fossils who were used to the different mixed denominations, 240d to the £, 12d to a shilling etc are better at maths mentally due to this. Strange how 50 years have gone by yet I still say 30 bob rather than the boring One Pound Fifty. Reading about old coins the other day and was surprised to find out that a tanner was previously nicknamed a bender, due to the high silver content it was easy to bend. In the 19th century it was easy to go out and get pissed on 2d, so with 6d you could get hammered, hence the term ‘going on a bender’.

Whilst teaching a primary class, I showed them a long multiplication and long division sum in £sd. They were boss eyed.

£44 .. 7s .. 3d ÷ 21
£62 .. 15s .. 11d x 32

Nuff said.

StT.
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[Taunton Blue Genie]

Using a lolly stick to get coins out of telephone boxes......