Criticised with class!

Decimalisation took full effect in Britain on 15th Jan (or was it Feb?
Probably) 1970 - I was working as a programmer at the time and to say it was
a busy time is an understatement. To celebrate, the Post Office workers
went on strike for about 6 weeks, eventually getting a pay rise that would
take them 6 years to make up the pay they'd lost in the strike. The Post
Office for its part pulled a pslendid wangle in decimalising prices - I
can't remember what the price fo postage went from and too but it was the
equivalent of about a 30% increase. London Transport decimalised my 2/-
train fare to 15p, a 50% increase (it was Feb).

Couple of debatably useful bits of info about pre-decimal coinage

1 A halfpenny (pronounced "hape-knee") was exactly an inch in diameter

2 Three pennies weighed exactly an ounce assuming they were'd worn thin
by the ravages of time.

3 I saved up for the deposit on my Epiphone bass guitar but not spending
any threepenny bit that came into my possession for over a year. I also
forged my father's signature on the hire purchase agreement as he thought
that 90 quid was too much to spend on a bit of wood with strings on.

--
Cheers - John Mycroft
coryton_at_cobbsmill_dot_com


"Blair (TC)" The wrote in message
...
On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 11:27:17 -0700, "Albumen"
wrote:

I finally learned yesterday that a 'bob' was a shilling. :-)

-a

================================================== ====================
Albumem and All:

I thought (in RCSD at least that a Bob was an Ingraham. 38*)

In any case I thought the following might of interest,

Blair Stannard

================================================== ====================

The British Monetary System before Decimalization


£ (a Latin L) :
pound, symbol for pounds sterling. 1968 was the year of decimalization
of the British currency when a pound became 100 new pennies. Prior to
that a pound was 20 shillings, a shilling twelve pence (pennies) and
the smallest division of a penny was a farthing. It is written £/s/d
and £/s/- for even shillings. From 1776 till WWII £1 fluctuated
between $3-$5 (1864 peak of $12). Since WWII it has fluctuated around
$2 when 1d was 1¢ (low of $1.04 in 1985). Hence, the slang `dollar'
for 5/- and `half a dollar' was accurate until the early 70s.

£sd /el es dee/ n :
`pounds, shillings, and pence', money in general, and the British
monetary system in particular prior to decimalization (4 farthings = 1
penny, 12 pence = 1 shilling, 2 shillings = 1 florin, 5 shillings = 1
crown, 20 shillings = 1 pound (sovereign), 21 shillings = 1 guinea).

¼d /fahdhing/ :
symbol for a farthing, four to a penny, about the size of a copper
cent, went out of circulation in 1956.

½d /haypnee/ :
symbol for a halfpenny, about the size of a thin copper quarter.

1d /penee/ n :
symbol for penny.

2d /tuhp@ns/ n :
twopence, (also symbol for half groat).

3d /threp@ns/ /thr@p@ns/ /thruhp@ns/ /thrup@ns/ /fr@p@ns/ :
symbol for threepence, threepenny bit, silver (about size of a dime)
until 1920, then 12-sided brass coin like a fat nickel.

4d n :
symbol for groat.

6d /sicksp@ns/ :
symbol for sixpence, about size of a dime, syn. tanner.

1/-, 1s, 12d :
symbol for shilling (12d), about size of a quarter, still in
circulation, equivalent to 5p, syn. bob, shilling bit.

2/- :
symbol for florin, two shillings, about the size of a half dollar,
still in circulation, equivalent to 10p, syn. two bob.

2/6d /too n siks/ :
symbol for half a crown, two-and-six (pence), larger than a half
dollar.

5/- :
symbol for crown, five shillings, huge, much larger than a silver
dollar.

10/- :
symbol for (brown) ten shilling note, syn. ten bob note.

10/6d :
ten-and-six, also half a guinea (see Mad Hatter's topper).

20/-, £1, 240d, 100p :
alternate for £1 (green), pound, pound sterling, sovereign.

21/- :
symbol for guinea, twenty-one shillings.

£1 :
symbol for one pound note (green), first issued in 1928, new note
issued in 1968, and reverting back to coins in 1983.

£5 :
symbol for five pound note (blue, though, like the tenner's, they used
to be huge white sheets inscribed with gold filigree, large enough to
wrap up plenty of money in).

£10 :
symbol for ten pounds (brown) or ten pound note.

£20 n:
symbol for twenty pounds or the twenty pound note (rainbow colors).

½p :
bronze 1971-1985.

1p :
bronze 1971.

2p n :
bronze coin, about the same size as a Susan B. Anthony dollar.

5p n :
cupro-nickel coin, made exactly the same size, shape and value as the
old shilling.

10p n :
coin introduced in 1982.

20p :
coin introduced in 1982.

50p :
seven sided coin introduced in 1969.

ackers [Egyptian, akka, one piastre] n :
pound notes or money in general.

bent adj :
gay, "bent as a three-pound note", "bent as a nine-bob note".

bit n :
coin when used with its value, as: threepenny bit, sixpenny bit, two
shilling bit, as opposed to note.

bob n :
shilling, "lend me a bob, mate". (See a couple of bob, ten bob)

bun penny n :
a Queen Victoria penny bearing her portrait with her hair done up in a
bun (1860-1874), and found occasionally in one's change even up till
decimalization.

couple of bob n :
some money, "I bet that set you back a couple of bob".

crown n :
five shilling piece, 5/-, dollar.

decimalization n :
the changeover from £sd to decimal currency (100 new pence = £1),
initiated in 1968 with introduction of 5p and 10p coins and completed
by 1971 with the ½p, 1p, 2p, 20p and 50p, where 100p = £1.
The official start of the new currency was February 15th, 1971. The
old currency stopped being used about 6 months later, although the
changeover period was originally scheduled to last a year.

The 5p and 10p coins were the same size as the old 1/- and 2/- coins,
and no attempt was made to withdraw these old coins from circulation,
to the confusion of the visitor. However, in 1990 and 1992 new,
smaller, coins for 5p and 10p were introduced, and the old ones
withdrawn a year or so later. The only pre-decimalisation coins still
being minted are the crowns (5/-) occasionally minted to mark special
occasions.

dollar sl n :
five shilling piece, 5/-, five bob, 25p.

farthing n :
¼d, coin of least value, "haven't got two brass farthings to rub
together".

fiver sl n :
five pound note, £5.

flim [flimsy] n :
five pound note, esp. from before the war (WWII).

florin n :
two shilling bit, 2/-.

groat n :
4d, silver coin 1351-1662, fourpenny bit 1836-1856, small sum, "don't
care a groat".

guinea n :
gold coin last coined in 1813, but still used to refer to 21/- values.

half a crown n :
a value of 2/6d, or the half crown coin, about the size of a silver
dollar.

half a dollar sl n :
half a crown, 2/6d, (12½p).

half-crown n :
another way of saying and writing half a crown.

halfpenny /haypnee/ /hayp@ns/ n :
½d.

ha'p'orth /hayp@th/ n :
halfpenny's worth, but used in reference to any trifling amount, "he's
not worth a ha'p'orth".

p /pee/ n :
symbol for new pence.

new pence n :
the new decimal currency (see decimalization) where 100 new pence
equal a pound (100p = £1), as opposed to the old £sd currency. `New'
money has 1p /wun pee/, /nyoo penee/ or /penee/; 2p /too pee/
sometimes /tuhp@ns/: about the size of a large copper quarter; 5p:
exactly the same size shape and value as the old shilling, about the
size of a quarter; 10p: exactly the same size shape and value as the
old two shilling piece, about the size of a half dollar; 20p: a small
five sided brass coin about the size of a thin nickel; 50p: seven
sided coin about the size of a silver dollar; and finally the sov=100p

nicker sl n :
pound (£), "it cost 'im twenty nicker".

note n :
bill when used with value, as: ten shilling note, one pound note, five
pound note; see bit.

old penny n :
the penny before decimalization.

quid n :
£1, one pound sterling, same as buck for dollar.

shilling n :
see 1/-.

sov col abbr :
sovereign.

sovereign n :
gold coin worth £1, now used to refer, with a hint of irony, to the
new brass pound coin about the size of a squat fat quarter, there are
five kinds differing by the inscription on the side and the design
representing the four countries comprising the UK and the UK as a
whole; pound notes were done away with in 1986.

sterling n :
British currency, syn pound, see £.

tanner sl n :
sixpenny bit, sixpence, "spare us a tanner, mate".
ten bob n :

ten shillings or half a pound, but usually referring to the ten
shilling note (until they went of circulation in 1971).

tenner sl n :
ten pound note.

topper n :
top hat.

twopence halfpenny /tupneeyaypnee/ csl n :
a trifling or worthless amount.

twopence /tuhp@ns/ n :
2d, two pennies, half groat.

In a recent message "Blair (TC)" The wrote:

On Sun, 5 Sep 2004 11:27:17 -0700, "Albumen"
wrote:

I finally learned yesterday that a 'bob' was a shilling. :-)


For the full story of UK coins, both pre- and post-decimalisation in 1971,
see the web site below.

http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/coins.html
and
http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/dec.html

Enjoy!

--
Tony Clayton or
Coins of the UK : http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/coins.html
Values of Coins of the UK : http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/values/coins.html
Metals used in Coins : http://www.tclayton.demon.co.uk/metal.html
Sent using RISC OS on an Acorn Strong Arm RiscPC
.... Starkle Starkle Little Twink What the hell you are I think?

"Dave Kent" wrote in message
...
Converting to the metric system involves much more than teaching it to the
public. American factories, machine shops, auto repair garages and
countless
other facilities have literally billions of dollars invested in tools and
other
equipment calibrated to the English system. It would cost billions of
dollars
more to convert them to another sytem of measurement, which is why
Congress
abandoned attempts at forced conversion. If only Benjamin Franklin had
been
able to convince us to convert back in the 1790s when the metric system
was
new!


I'm no fan of the metric system. However, one could also easily argue that
converting to metric would stimulate the economy, keep people employed and
create new jobs as well as new products, and help end the U.S. recession
which supposedly ended a couple years ago, but a whole lot of people haven't
seen much evidence of it yet.

Mike

Don't start us Brits off about metrication!!! As we are now in the EU
we are committed to metrication. We have had market traders arrested
for refusing to price potatoes in kilograms instead of pounds and
ounces- before long we will be forced to sell beer in millilitres
instead of pints ( on second thoughts they wouldn't dare to do that -
there would be a revolution !!!). All in the interest of
"Harmonisation". Why would a 75 year old lady in Newcastle be
interested in being assured that the potatoes she buys can be
price-compared with the same quantity in Athens, Prague or Amsterdam?
Humbug sir!
Besides which think of all the fun schoolboys are deprived of not
having to learn that famous measure of length - 1 Rod,Pole or Perch.
Nothing to do with stamps but did you know that one standard yard was
the distance from the Kings nose to the tip of his finger with his arm
stretched out sideways? Astound your friends ( and embarrass your
partner)by trotting out this information at yout next party or
BarBee!!
Regards
Malcolm



"Doug Spade" wrote in message ...
"Dave Kent" wrote in message
...
Converting to the metric system involves much more than teaching it to the
public. American factories, machine shops, auto repair garages and
countless
other facilities have literally billions of dollars invested in tools and
other
equipment calibrated to the English system. It would cost billions of
dollars
more to convert them to another sytem of measurement, which is why
Congress
abandoned attempts at forced conversion. If only Benjamin Franklin had
been
able to convince us to convert back in the 1790s when the metric system
was
new!


I'm no fan of the metric system. However, one could also easily argue that
converting to metric would stimulate the economy, keep people employed and
create new jobs as well as new products, and help end the U.S. recession
which supposedly ended a couple years ago, but a whole lot of people haven't
seen much evidence of it yet.

Mike

malcolm hirst wrote
Don't start us Brits off about metrication!!! As we are now
in the EU we are committed to metrication.

Britain joined the EU after it had committed to metrication. It
sometimes suits those promoting metrication, and those resisting it,
to link it to the EU.


before long we will be forced to sell beer
in millilitres instead of pints

You already are, if the beer is in a bottle or can.