Re: How much was a ticket for the underground in the 60s?
1506
> Hello everybody,
> do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
> early '60s?
>
> I found that a bus ticket for one stop was one and a half penny, and a
> three-pence for about three or four stops in suburbs such as Edgware
> or Stanmore. Is it right?
>
When I started work on Regent St in 1969 the Waterloo to Piccadilly
Circus fare was 3d. That would be just over 1p in currency or
USD0.02.
It cost twice as much to go from Waterloo to Oxford Circus, i.e. 6d of
2.5 new pence. That would be USD0.05 nowadays.
Soon after I started work there was a fare increase that doubled the
Waterloo to Piccadilly cost.
Needless to say that I find the present day London fare to be
extortionate.
John @ home
> On Jun 9, 9:33 am, nessuno2001 <nessuno2...@gmail.com> wrote:> Hello everybody,
> > do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
> > early '60s?
In preparation for decimalisation in 1971, London Transport moved all
fares to be multiples of 6d, which had an exact conversion at 2.5p.
And they were one of the last organisations to make widespread use of
the half (new) penny before its abolition.
In doing this, they were one of the few large organisations to be
completely transparent about decimalisation. Most took the opportunity
to introduce a hidden price increase, even other nationalised
transport bodies. Scottish Omnibuses increased the fare from my home
town to the nearest city from 2s 3d (just over 11p) to 13p.
John
Colin McKenzie
So that's 2.5p at a time when a postage stamp for a letter was about
the same.
> Needless to say that I find the present day London fare to be
> extortionate.
By the postage prices index we should be paying less than 50p for a
short hop. Hmm.
How much would it have been from Waterloo to Earl's Court? After all,
you can get that far for a minimum Z1 fare now.
Colin McKenzie
--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at
the population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as
walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.
Ian Jelf
<4b1be18a-3eba-44a7...@c58g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>,
"John @ home" <jo...@connectnet.org.uk> writes
Indeed they did. I have a copy of a Bristol Omnibus leaflet
advertising Day Tickets at:
"7/- (40p from February 1971)".
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK
Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk
Charles Ellson
<adrian_a...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>On Jun 9, 9:33 am, nessuno2001 <nessuno2...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hello everybody,
>> do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
>> early '60s?
>>
>> I found that a bus ticket for one stop was one and a half penny, and a
>> three-pence for about three or four stops in suburbs such as Edgware
>> or Stanmore. Is it right?
>
You paid by the mile not the number of stops.
Peter Masson
"John @ home" <jo...@connectnet.org.uk> wrote
>
> In preparation for decimalisation in 1971, London Transport moved all
> fares to be multiples of 6d, which had an exact conversion at 2.5p.
British Rail did the same, one exception being platform tickets which were
4d, IIRC, before decimalisation, and became 2p on decimalisation. BR went
decimal a day earlier than the national D-day, so for the price of an Oxford
platform ticket (the last time I've ever bought one) I had in my hand the
change for a shilling of a 1p and a 2p coin a day before most people could
get hold of them.
Peter
Martin Edwards
The day before the switch, the price of most beer was 3/- per pint. The
day of the switch, it was the equivalent price of 15p. The day after it
was 16p, a swingeing rise at the time, though it pales into
insignificance today.
--
Corporate society looks after everything. All it asks of anyone, all it
has ever asked of anyone, is that they do not interfere with management
decisions. -From “Rollerball”
Beyond Caring
> On Jun 9, 9:33 am, nessuno2001 <nessuno2...@gmail.com> wrote:> Hello everybody,
> > do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
> > early '60s?
>
> > I found that a bus ticket for one stop was one and a half penny, and a
> > three-pence for about three or four stops in suburbs such as Edgware
> > or Stanmore. Is it right?
>
Dunno about the underground but in 1958, Bristol - Darlington, £2-0-0d
return.
(Forces rates).
Chris Tolley
> BR went decimal a day earlier than the national D-day, so for the
> price of an Oxford platform ticket (the last time I've ever bought
> one) I had in my hand the change for a shilling of a 1p and a 2p coin
> a day before most people could get hold of them.
Example coinage was on sale for a couple of years before it could be
spent. A plastic wallet labelled "Britain's First Decimal Coins". Anyone
could get a set.
--
http://gallery120232.fotopic.net/p9683781.html
(150 138 at Stalybridge, 26 Feb 2001)
Giovanni Drogo
>>> early '60s?
Not fully on-topic, but I remember pretty well that the price of the
first Milan Underground ticket (flat fare) in 1964 was 100 lire. This
was a huge difference with respect to normal bus and tram tickets
(single rides) which were 35 lire. And in fact one took the underground
only when strictly necessary ... I still remember taking a bus to school
from a place some 600 m from where I lived instead that 3 underground
stops (when raining, with good weather I walked).
In 1970 the prices were unified in the present "hourly tariff" (one
ticket for 60 minutes, as many changes as you like but only one trip on
the underground). Now it is one ticket for 75 minutes, and costs 1 euro.
> In doing this, they were one of the few large organisations to be
> completely transparent about decimalisation. Most took the opportunity
> to introduce a hidden price increase,
We had a similar case with the introduction of the euro. Before that the
ticket costed 1500 lire. There were law disposition forbidding excessive
price increases with the transition lira-euro. Therefore ATM raised the
ticket from 1500 to 1900 lire on December 29. When two days later the
euro came, the "actual" increase was just from 1900 lire to 1936.27 lire
(1 euro).
--
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Adrian Clarkson
"Beyond Caring" <rustyt...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
news:41fd4743-e8ea-4a0a...@y21g2000hsf.googlegroups.com...
On 9 Jun, 20:50, 1506 <adrian_auerhud...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> On Jun 9, 9:33 am, nessuno2001 <nessuno2...@gmail.com> wrote:> Hello
> everybody,
> > do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
> > early '60s?
A child's ticket from Westminster to New Cross in 1962/3 ish was 10d (approx
4p) - sticks in my mind because it was the first ticket I ever bought on my
own!
adrian
amo...@yahoo.com
wrote:
> We had a similar case with the introduction of the euro. Before that the
> ticket costed 1500 lire. There were law disposition forbidding excessive
> price increases with the transition lira-euro. Therefore ATM raised the
> ticket from 1500 to 1900 lire on December 29. When two days later the
> euro came, the "actual" increase was just from 1900 lire to 1936.27 lire
> (1 euro).
>
On the barcelona Metro there are signs saying things such as the
penalty for not having a cvaild ticket is 30 Euros and 5 cents. No
doubt the result of some very fair currency conversion.
StuartJ
<adrian_clark...@blueyonder.blah.co.uk> wrote:
> "Beyond Caring" <rustytraml...@googlemail.com> wrote in message
In the late sixties a day return from Northwood Hills to South
Kensington was 7s 6d, child 3s 9d, total for mum plus 2 going to the
museums, 15 bob. These days the adult fares (with oyster) come to £4
off-peak, and children free or £1, total £6. Strikes me as a
significant reduction in real terms, but then it's a lot more than a
short hop.
Stuart J
sweller
> > I found that a bus ticket for one stop was one and a half penny, and a
> > three-pence for about three or four stops in suburbs such as Edgware
> > or Stanmore. Is it right?
> >
> When I started work on Regent St in 1969 the Waterloo to Piccadilly
> Circus fare was 3d. That would be just over 1p in currency or
> USD0.02.
>
> It cost twice as much to go from Waterloo to Oxford Circus, i.e. 6d of
> 2.5 new pence. That would be USD0.05 nowadays.
> Needless to say that I find the present day London fare to be
> extortionate.
How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
to the £1.50 fare today?
--
Simon
Brighton
ex-Westbury, ex-Aberystwyth
John B
> > When I started work on Regent St in 1969 the Waterloo to Piccadilly
> > Circus fare was 3d. That would be just over 1p in currency or
> > USD0.02.
>
> > It cost twice as much to go from Waterloo to Oxford Circus, i.e. 6d of
> > 2.5 new pence. That would be USD0.05 nowadays.
> > Needless to say that I find the present day London fare to be
> > extortionate.
>
> How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
> to the £1.50 fare today?
This site is absolutely excellent for asking this kind of question:
http://www.measuringworth.com/ukcompare/
So the 7s 6d fare from Northwood to South Ken in 1968 is worth GBP4.35
in 2006 based on RPI; GBP8.53 based on average earnings (because we're
paid twice as much now as we were then, after inflation); and GBP9.87
as a share of GDP (because capital gains have risen even more than
wages).
The 3d fare, meanwhile, is worth 15p based on RPI or 29p based on
average earnings.
The discrepancy in short-hop centre fares compared with long distance
fares in the 1960s seems almost unimaginable - especially given that
it's precisely those short-hop centre journeys where the system is
crowded.
Also interesting is the GBP2 forces return from Bristol to Darlington
in 1958. That's GBP32 in 1996 money based on RPI, GBP82 based on
average earnings, or GBP96 based on GDP. The SVR fare with Forces
Railcard today is actually GBP69.
--
John Band
john at johnband dot org
www.johnband.org
David Jackson
from Chris Tolley <cj...@supanet.com> contains these words:
> Example coinage was on sale for a couple of years before it could be
> spent. A plastic wallet labelled "Britain's First Decimal Coins". Anyone
> could get a set.
The banks were happy to supply schools with some 1p and 2p coins ahead
of the change-over so that the children could get familiar with the new
coins. I pushed my luck with the local TSB and got hold of a tenner's
worth about a month before D-day, the next step being to invite parents
and grandparents into the classroom to share in the children's
experience. I had a *very* full classroom each morning* for a couple of
weeks - and I still had a tenner's worth of coins at the end!
[* We had to do some real sums in the afternoons!]
--
Dave,
Frodsham
John B
> So the 7s 6d fare from Northwood to South Ken in 1968 is worth GBP4.35
> in 2006 based on RPI; GBP8.53 based on average earnings (because we're
> paid twice as much now as we were then, after inflation); and GBP9.87
> as a share of GDP (because capital gains have risen even more than
> wages).
Apologies for self-follow-up - for the avoidance of doubt, the GBP9.87
figure and other references to GDP in the previous post are GDP *per
capita*. Measuring price changes as a % of absolute GDP would be
pretty meaningless...
Lemmy
Jun 2008:
The Times digital archive, which more public libraries are making
available online to members, is a good data source.
Several mentions of fare increases during the sixties. This one dated 6
June 1963:
"The increases do not affect the 3d., 6d., 9d. and 1s. bus and
Underground fares, and the new scale will mean that London fares will
generally be at the rate of 3d. a mile up to seven miles, instead of
four miles as at present, with a lower charge for journeys over seven
miles."
...
"There will be no change in the cost of off-peak tickets on the
Underground but they will be extended to operate from 110 suburban
stations instead of 54, and will be issued on Saturdays and Sundays as
well as weekdays."
By 1965 the single fares were up to 4d a mile for the first 3 miles,
plus 3d a mile for miles 4-10. Above that, fares were raised by a flat
3d.
Some possibly more interesting stuff I came across included:
18 May 1965: "What is claimed to be the only robot railway ticket
collector in the world began work at 7 a.m. at Acton Town Underground
station, London. Automatic Bill, as the staff call the machine,
swallows tickets like oysters, and coughs up the bad ones."
10 Dec 1965:"Two main methods to reduce congestion are being planned --
to reduce the number of parking meters and to cut down actual parking
space available..."
"The "special measures" which the Minister said were being considered
for freeing London's roads from congestion include charges on vehicles
for using the roads. The various systems of road pricing or a
"congestion tax" on which the Smeed committee reported last year is
being examined by a working party of experts."
And on 11 January 1963: five paragraphs on page 5 about the case of a
"young woman secretary" from Richmond who was fined £2 with £2 costs for
travelling on the Underground without having paid her fare. An LTE
Inspector testified that even the Archbishop of Canterbury would be
asked to pay again if he could not produce a ticket on exit.
--
Lemmy
Michael Hoffman
> 18 May 1965: "What is claimed to be the only robot railway ticket
> collector in the world began work at 7 a.m. at Acton Town Underground
> station, London. Automatic Bill, as the staff call the machine,
> swallows tickets like oysters, and coughs up the bad ones."
Nice word choice.
--
Michael Hoffman
Paul Rigg
2.5p (ie 6d) and first class mail up from 5d to 3p (7.2d) and claimed that
it wasnt really a price increase.
A 50% increase in the price of a second class letter certainly sounded like
one to me!
Graeme Wall
"sweller" <swe...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could get
1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
--
Graeme Wall
This address is not read, substitute trains for rail.
Transport Miscellany at <http://www.greywall.demon.co.uk/rail/index.html>
Mizter T
On 10 Jun, 17:39, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <xn0fr9hqxc15do...@news.individual.net>
> "sweller" <swel...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
> (snip)
>
> > How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
> > to the £1.50 fare today?
>
> Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could get
> 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
>
> Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
>
If you know where to go you can get yourself a pint for something like
£1.80. And it's not the establishment with faux-marble bar counters.
Graeme Wall
Mizter T <mizt...@gmail.com> wrote:
You can in Southampton as well, but not generally in Central London (bar
Weatherspoons).
Bruce Fletcher (Stronsay, Orkney)
> Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could get
> 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
>
> Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
Over in Kirkwall a pint of Guinness has been about three pounds for a
couple of months now.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
<www.stronsay.co.uk/claremont>
Neil Williams
<swe...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
>to the £1.50 fare today?
I suspect the OP may have been referring to the gbp4 paper ticket,
which should probably be thought of in the same way as a charge for
the use of a credit card set at a deliberately high level to put
people off paying in that way.
Neil
--
Neil Williams
Put my first name before the at to reply.
Mizter T
On 10 Jun, 19:53, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> In message <2c42fcc4-7f58-4cac-94bf-f2ce7efd9...@d77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>
> Mizter T <mizte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On 10 Jun, 17:39, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > In message <xn0fr9hqxc15do...@news.individual.net>
> > > "sweller" <swel...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > (snip)
>
> > > > How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
> > > > to the £1.50 fare today?
>
> > > Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could
> > > get 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
>
> > > Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
>
> > If you know where to go you can get yourself a pint for something like
> > £1.80. And it's not the establishment with faux-marble bar counters.
>
> You can in Southampton as well, but not generally in Central London (bar
> Weatherspoons).
>
May I merrily spread the good word of Samuel Smith's Brewery. The beer
may all be brewed in Yorkshire but central London plays host to many
of Sam Smith's distinctively convivial hostelries - traditional pubs,
no music, decent fellow drinkers, a lovely pint, and minimal damage to
your wallet. 'Tis a winner. If it's your round, this is the place to
buy it!
List of all their pubs in London and elsewhere:
http://www.beerintheevening.com/chains/chain.shtml/chain/12/
Graeme Wall
"Bruce Fletcher (Stronsay, Orkney)" <ricardi...@btinternet.com> wrote:
> Graeme Wall wrote:
> > Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could
> > get 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
> >
> > Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
>
> Over in Kirkwall a pint of Guinness has been about three pounds for a
> couple of months now.
But that's not North, that's foriegn :-)
Graeme Wall
Mizter T <mizt...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 10 Jun, 19:53, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > In message <2c42fcc4-7f58-4cac-94bf-f2ce7efd9...@d77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>
> > Mizter T <mizte...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > > On 10 Jun, 17:39, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > > In message <xn0fr9hqxc15do...@news.individual.net>
> > > > "sweller" <swel...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
> >
> > > > (snip)
> >
> > > > > How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
> > > > > to the £1.50 fare today?
> >
> > > > Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could
> > > > get 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
> >
> > > > Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
> >
> > > If you know where to go you can get yourself a pint for something like
> > > £1.80. And it's not the establishment with faux-marble bar counters.
> >
> > You can in Southampton as well, but not generally in Central London (bar
> > Weatherspoons).
> >
>
> May I merrily spread the good word of Samuel Smith's Brewery.
Please do :-)
> The beer may all be brewed in Yorkshire but central London plays host to
> many of Sam Smith's distinctively convivial hostelries - traditional pubs,
> no music, decent fellow drinkers, a lovely pint, and minimal damage to your
> wallet. 'Tis a winner. If it's your round, this is the place to buy it!
>
I first came across Sam Smiths at a little pub in Shildon in 1975. I still
have the branded tankard presented to me by the landlord to celebrate
drinking his pub dry. ob railway, I was there for the S&D 150th as part of
the GWS sales team so I had plenty of assistance in the drinking.
Nobody
>> On Jun 9, 9:33 am, nessuno2001 <nessuno2...@gmail.com> wrote:> Hello everybody,
>> > do you know how much was a ticket for the London underground in the
>> > early '60s?
>
>fares to be multiples of 6d, which had an exact conversion at 2.5p.
>And they were one of the last organisations to make widespread use of
>the half (new) penny before its abolition.
>
>completely transparent about decimalisation. Most took the opportunity
>transport bodies. Scottish Omnibuses increased the fare from my home
>town to the nearest city from 2s 3d (just over 11p) to 13p.
>
>John
Part of the problem surely was the (UK) Ewe Kay's decision to
"decimalise" the Whole Pound, rather than what happened first in South
Africa, and later in Australia and New Zealand, where the "local
pound" was decimalised as the rand/Aussie-Kiwi dollar based on ten
shillings, i.e. "half a pound".
A "shilling" immediately became 10 cents, not 5p... six pence became 5
cents.
In the "dominions", the only awkward conversions involved the pennies
between one and four, and six and nine.
In NZ, the Decimal Currency Board (from memory!) had strict controls
on pricing guidelines when the switch was made on Monday 10 July 1967.
I personally prepared payroll for ~50 employees for payout on Tues 11
July '67... and had it paid out in cash with the "new" paper bills and
coinage.
MIG
> In message <43d1ce86-c9b1-49d2-a84d-8f8459a32...@f63g2000hsf.googlegroups.com>
> Mizter T <mizte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> > On 10 Jun, 19:53, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > In message <2c42fcc4-7f58-4cac-94bf-f2ce7efd9...@d77g2000hsb.googlegroups.com>
> > > Mizter T <mizte...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > > > On 10 Jun, 17:39, Graeme Wall <R...@greywall.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > > > In message <xn0fr9hqxc15do...@news.individual.net>
> > > > > "sweller" <swel...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > > > > (snip)
>
> > > > > > How much, say, beer, bread or cheese would the 3d buy in 1969, compared
> > > > > > to the £1.50 fare today?
>
> > > > > Beer reached 2/- a pint around 1969, in London at least. So you could
> > > > > get 1/8 of a pint for 3d. £1.50 should get you a half now.
>
> > > > > Waits for Northerners to die of shock at the price.
>
> > > > If you know where to go you can get yourself a pint for something like
> > > > £1.80. And it's not the establishment with faux-marble bar counters.
>
> > > You can in Southampton as well, but not generally in Central London (bar
> > > Weatherspoons).
>
> > May I merrily spread the good word of Samuel Smith's Brewery.
>
> Please do :-)
>
> > The beer may all be brewed in Yorkshire but central London plays host to
> > many of Sam Smith's distinctively convivial hostelries - traditional pubs,
> > no music, decent fellow drinkers, a lovely pint, and minimal damage to your
> > wallet. 'Tis a winner. If it's your round, this is the place to buy it!
Slight warning if the round includes soft drinks. The beer price may
lead one to assume that everything is cheap, but they have hugely
racked up the soft drink prices in their London pubs. I don't think
this is the case in Yorkshire though.
MIG
> Peter Masson wrote:
> > BR went decimal a day earlier than the national D-day, so for the
> > price of an Oxford platform ticket (the last time I've ever bought
> > one) I had in my hand the change for a shilling of a 1p and a 2p coin
> > a day before most people could get hold of them.
>
> Example coinage was on sale for a couple of years before it could be
> spent. A plastic wallet labelled "Britain's First Decimal Coins". Anyone
> could get a set.
Do you happen to know the provenance of a 1970 two-shilling (ie 10p
till 1992) coin I found in my change once?
Was there an equivalent "last non-decimal coins" set available that
included coins that weren't generally made and that someone
accidentally spent? (Given that they started using 10p coins for 2s
in 1968.)
Peter Masson
"MIG" <googl...@doreenbird.co.uk> wrote
>
>Do you happen to know the provenance of a 1970 two-shilling (ie 10p
>till 1992) coin I found in my change once?
>
>Was there an equivalent "last non-decimal coins" set available that
>included coins that weren't generally made and that someone
>accidentally spent? (Given that they started using 10p coins for 2s
>in 1968.)
Yes - I have a set of 1970 pre-decimal coins, containing halfpenny, penny,
threepence, sixpence, shilling (English and Scottish versions), two
shillings, and half crown. Some of these were not minted for general
circulation in that year.
Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as the
current £2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
Peter
sweller
> Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
> the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
had holes in my trouser pockets.
MIG
> Peter Masson wrote:
>
> > Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
> > the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
>
> I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
> and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
> had holes in my trouser pockets.
In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
(can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.
I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
meters that would have had to be replaced. Decimalisation was in 1971,
but 5p and 10p were minted from 1968 and 50p from 1969 (hence the 1970
2s being odd) and 1s and 2s stayed in circulation as 5p and 10p of
course.
I did once find a 1938 2s in my change, but I think that the reason
why you hardly ever saw any dated before 1947 was that that was the
first year when there wasn't any silver content.
sweller
> In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
> (can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
> loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.
For my tenth birthday I received some pound notes from relatives. This
was the month (February 1978) that the old pre-decimal pound note started
to give way to the new smaller style. Relatives being relatives thought
it was nice to put the new crisp notes in the cards.
I was gutted, the old ones were bigger, didn't my aged Aunts realise
these were worth more!
Colin McKenzie
> Yes - I have a set of 1970 pre-decimal coins, containing halfpenny, penny,
> threepence, sixpence, shilling (English and Scottish versions), two
> shillings, and half crown. Some of these were not minted for general
> circulation in that year.
None of them were minted for general circulation, though presumably
the 6d, 1s and 2s were legal tender. Sets are reasonably common and
come up on Ebay all the time.
Colin McKenzie
--
No-one has ever proved that cycle helmets make cycling any safer at
the population level, and anyway cycling is about as safe per mile as
walking.
Make an informed choice - visit www.cyclehelmets.org.
Colin McKenzie
> I seem to recall that the post office put second class mail up from 4d to
> 2.5p (ie 6d) and first class mail up from 5d to 3p (7.2d) and claimed that
> it wasnt really a price increase.
I'm fairly sure the rates went to 6d and 7d before decimalisation, but
apparently after Christmas 1970. So not very long before.
David Jackson
from "Peter Masson" <peter....@privacy.net> contains these words:
> while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
And the crown was bigger still.
--
Dave,
Frodsham
Peter Masson
"David Jackson" <dija...@zetnet.co.uk> wrote
>
> And the crown was bigger still.
>
transaction - around 1955 a boy in the class paid his week's dinner money (5
shillings) using one.
Peter
Roland Perry
Wed, 11 Jun 2008, David Jackson <dija...@zetnet.co.uk> remarked:
>> while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
>
>And the crown was bigger still.
It still is.
--
Roland Perry
Peter Campbell Smith
> Paul Rigg wrote:
>
>> I seem to recall that the post office put second class mail up from
>> 4d to 2.5p (ie 6d) and first class mail up from 5d to 3p (7.2d) and
>> claimed that it wasnt really a price increase.
You are correct about the increase, but I seem to recall that it was
explained by the PO that prices were due to rise at about the same time,
and it would be easier and cheaper to combine the price rise and
decimalisation rather than have two changes.
In the event, as I recall, there was quite a lengthy postal strike over D-
day, so the decimal stamps didn't come into (much) use until some time
later.
(At the time, I was on a student union committee, and we pledged to convert
all our prices at the official conversion rate. We had a complaint that at
the old prices, one scoop of mashed potato was 4d and two scoops were 8d,
but applying official conversion rates, one scoop was now 1.5p and two
scoops were 3.5p.)
Peter
--
Peter Campbell Smith ~ London ~ pjcs00 (a) gmail.com
David Jackson
from "Peter Masson" <peter....@privacy.net> contains these words:
> I think I've only once seen a crown used as payment in a normal
> transaction - around 1955 a boy in the class paid his week's dinner money (5
> shillings) using one.
You're one-up on me then. I have several, in plastic cases as
"commemorative issues", but I've never seen one used for its proper
purpose.
--
Dave,
Frodsham
A.C.P.Crawshaw
>
> On the barcelona Metro there are signs saying things such as the
> penalty for not having a cvaild ticket is 30 Euros and 5 cents. No
> doubt the result of some very fair currency conversion.
I noticed that too, on a recent visit. Very odd.
Alan
Charles Ellson
Crowns tended to be issued above face value in proof condition but the
1953 coins were IMU the first to be issued as part of a set of coins
in "uncirculated" condition (as was the 1965 Churchill Crown). AFAIAA
the 1953 uncirculated set was issued at or near face value so many
(like my mother's) possibly disappeared/dispersed when there was an
urgent need for cash.
Charles Ellson
Probably the simple result of the original pre-conversion penalty
being fixed by legislation ? The same would have occurred in the UK
for any item/service (e.g. registration fees) set by law in an amount
other than round pounds or shillings (most likely a multiple of 2s 6d)
which remained unchanged at the time of decimalisation.
Peter Masson
"Charles Ellson" <cha...@ellson.demon.co.uk> wrote
> >
> Crowns tended to be issued above face value in proof condition but the
> 1953 coins were IMU the first to be issued as part of a set of coins
> in "uncirculated" condition (as was the 1965 Churchill Crown). AFAIAA
> the 1953 uncirculated set was issued at or near face value so many
> (like my mother's) possibly disappeared/dispersed when there was an
> urgent need for cash.
When were crowns last minted as normal currency, as opposed to
commemoratives?
Peter
Charles Ellson
That might be down to interpretation. The last intentionally-regular
issues for general circulation seem to have been after the 1887 Royal
Jubilee. Since then have been mostly commemorative issues but even
before Victoria's time they don't seem to have been established as an
"everyday" issue. I suspect their size possibly clashed with some kind
of practical threshold above which coins were inconvenient to carry or
handle.
James Farrar
<cam....@mh391.invalid> wrote:
>Lemmy wrote:
>
>> 18 May 1965: "What is claimed to be the only robot railway ticket
>> collector in the world began work at 7 a.m. at Acton Town Underground
>> station, London. Automatic Bill, as the staff call the machine,
>> swallows tickets like oysters, and coughs up the bad ones."
>
>Nice word choice.
Who knew they could see nearly 40 years into the future? :)
James Farrar
>An LTE
>Inspector testified that even the Archbishop of Canterbury would be
>asked to pay again if he could not produce a ticket on exit.
But not the Prime Minister's wife...
Martin Rich
<s...@below.com> wrote:
>(At the time, I was on a student union committee, and we pledged to convert
>all our prices at the official conversion rate. We had a complaint that at
>the old prices, one scoop of mashed potato was 4d and two scoops were 8d,
>but applying official conversion rates, one scoop was now 1.5p and two
>scoops were 3.5p.)
I'd always been told that student unions in the late 60s/early 70s
were hotbeds of radicalism, dedicated to overthrowing the bourgeoisie,
occupying university buildings, and probably providing affordable
public transport for all (desperate attempt to remain on-topic). So I
find Peter's revelation, that in fact they concerned themselves with
the price of mash, quite reassuring
Martin
R.C. Payne
> sweller wrote:
>
>>Peter Masson wrote:
>>
>>>Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
>>>the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
>>I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
>>and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
>>had holes in my trouser pockets.
>
> In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
> (can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
> loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.
>
> I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
> size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
> meters that would have had to be replaced. Decimalisation was in 1971,
> but 5p and 10p were minted from 1968 and 50p from 1969 (hence the 1970
> 2s being odd) and 1s and 2s stayed in circulation as 5p and 10p of
> course.
But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
upon any older than about 1950, but still...
Robin
Peter Masson
"R.C. Payne" <rc...@nospam.ac.uk> wrote
>
> But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
> exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
> value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
> that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
> change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
> upon any older than about 1950, but still...
>
Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally silver coins.
Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to 1816 were legal
tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III, George IV, or William
III examples. There were also occasional press stories of silver groats
(4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being mistaken for silver 3d or
sixpences.
Peter
Charles Ellson
wrote:
>MIG wrote:
>> sweller wrote:
>>
>>>Peter Masson wrote:
>>>
>>>>Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
>>>>the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
>>>I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
>>>and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
>>>had holes in my trouser pockets.
>>
>> In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
>> (can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
>> loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.
>>
>> I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
>> size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
>> meters that would have had to be replaced. Decimalisation was in 1971,
>> but 5p and 10p were minted from 1968 and 50p from 1969 (hence the 1970
>> 2s being odd) and 1s and 2s stayed in circulation as 5p and 10p of
>> course.
>
>But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
>exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
>value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
>that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
>change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
>upon any older than about 1950, but still...
>
By the time decimalisation arrived much of the "silver" which really
was silver (50% to 1946, sterling silver to 1919) had disappeared into
back-street smelters due to the metal value exceeding the face value
of the coins. The same happened later to some extent with pennies and
halfpennies and later with decimal bronze coins (which are now plated
steel).
Bill Hayles
<iss...@bangor.ac.uk> wrote:
Exact conversion of 5000 pesetas.
The rest of us just used 1000 pesetas = 6 Euros, but officialdom loves
to be precise.
--
Bill Hayles
http://www.rossrail.com
m...@rossrail.com
Jim Brittin
@privacy.net says...
In the early sixties on a number 9 bus going to the Albert Hall a
passenger offered a coin to the conductor to pay her fare. The
conductor didn't like the look of it but I managed to catch sight of it
and exchanged it for another shilling. It was a rather clapped-out
George IV one from 1820. This was the oldest legal tender coin I've
ever seen in circulation.
Slightly off-topic, in earlier days I was an avid coin collector and
whilst doing National Service bought an Edward I penny by post from
Seaby's. This was a silver coin similar in size to a sixpence. I had
it in my shirt pocket when visiting a fair with my then lady love. We
went on a dodgem and I put some change from this in the same pocket.
The girl concerned wanted another turn so we sat in the dodgem and I
paid again. Back at camp I went to look at the newly arrived penny and
discoverd I only had a modern sixpence there. I often wonder what the
fairground bloke thought about the coin I'd given him!
Kirk Northrop
> I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
> size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
> meters that would have had to be replaced.
And of course they both had to be changed at about the same time because
the weight of 2x5p = 1x10p. Very handy for banks etc.
--
Kirk
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
"Peter Masson" <peter....@privacy.net> wrote in message
news:A-edne322e5bV9LV...@bt.com...
>
> I think I've only once seen a crown used as payment in a normal
> transaction - around 1955 a boy in the class paid his week's dinner money
> (5
> shillings) using one.
>
were used mainly as commemorative pieces because they were too big. But they
were legal, so there technically would have been no problem using it.
I know that there was a pre-decimilisation 10-shilling banknote, but was
there ever a five-shilling banknote?
Incidentally, I'd read a while ago that some of the five-pound coins, which
are also crown-sized, had come into general circulation.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
"Charles Ellson" <cha...@ellson.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:48705416cauftv1b1...@4ax.com...
Was the size of coins really an issue, though?
How were people in the United States handling the 20-dollar coins, or even
the Liberty silver dollars?
The Eisenhower dollars of the 1970s were also quite big, and I believe that
they were in general circulation.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
news:g2r8ie$2a0$1...@gemini.csx.cam.ac.uk...
>
> But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is exactly
> a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same value, ie
> 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention, that the old
> coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting change with a
> king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened upon any older
> than about 1950, but still...
>
I've seen shilling coins dated 1952, bearing George VI's portrait, however.
Peter Masson
<houn...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote
>
> I know that there was a pre-decimilisation 10-shilling banknote, but was
> there ever a five-shilling banknote?
>
any amount, so they might have issued a five shilling note then.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/history.htm
During WW1 the Treasury issued ten shilling and one pound currency notes.
They also printed five shilling, half crown, and one shilling notes, but
AFAIK these were never issued for circulation.
http://xray.sai.msu.ru/~mystery/images/money/UK/UK.html
Peter
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
>
> "R.C. Payne" <rc...@nospam.ac.uk> wrote
>>
> Until the 1960s it was not that unusual to get 19th century coins - with
> Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally silver
> coins.
> Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to 1816 were legal
> tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III, George IV, or William
> III examples. There were also occasional press stories of silver groats
> (4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being mistaken for silver 3d or
> sixpences.
>
degree.
I got a shilling back in my change on one occasion, while on the other I got
a 2d coin from the Free State of Ireland.
A few years ago, when I visited Canada, I found a 1-cent coin with George
VI.
I also occasionally find coins from Crown Dependencies, such as Gibraltar or
the Isle of Man. Friends of mine have even found coins in their change from
as far as St. Helena and the Falkland Islands.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
message news:MPG.22bc2464f...@news.btinternet.com...
> In the early sixties on a number 9 bus going to the Albert Hall a
> passenger offered a coin to the conductor to pay her fare. The
> conductor didn't like the look of it but I managed to catch sight of it
> and exchanged it for another shilling. It was a rather clapped-out
> George IV one from 1820. This was the oldest legal tender coin I've
> ever seen in circulation.
Something similar happened to me on the Midland Metro. A woman was trying to
pay with a 2-pound coin from the 1980s, but the condutor rejected it. I also
offered current coins in exchange for that one.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
Same thing happened in the United States -- it is next to impossible to find
any coins from before 1964, because they had all previously contained
silver.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
>
> During WW1 the Treasury issued ten shilling and one pound currency notes.
> They also printed five shilling, half crown, and one shilling notes, but
> AFAIK these were never issued for circulation.
> http://xray.sai.msu.ru/~mystery/images/money/UK/UK.html
>
The Channel Islands still have one-pound notes in regular circulation,
incidentally. I refer to both Guernsey and Jersey.
Tom Anderson
I have a bag in which i've been accumulating interesting coins for 15-20
years (ever since i had coins, basically!). It's mostly the special
designs of UK pounds, two pounds and 50ps, plus various coins from the
channel islands, Man and Gibraltar. The most interesting things are a St
Helena & Ascension pound, which is a fairly dull design with some birds on
it, a 1985 five shilling from Kenya, which looks enough like a 50p that i
didn't notice it in my handful of change, although it's a little heavier,
and the scowling visage of Daniel Arap Moi is hard to confuse with the
scowling visage of our own dear queen, and a 1996 Swazi one lilangeni,
similar in shape and material to a pound, which i - ObRailway - got in
change from a ticket machine at Paddington!
tom
--
Demolish serious culture!
Free Lunch
misc.transport.urban-transit:
>
>"Charles Ellson" <cha...@ellson.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:48705416cauftv1b1...@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:27 +0100, "Peter Masson"
>> <peter....@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>> That might be down to interpretation. The last intentionally-regular
>> issues for general circulation seem to have been after the 1887 Royal
>> Jubilee. Since then have been mostly commemorative issues but even
>> before Victoria's time they don't seem to have been established as an
>> "everyday" issue. I suspect their size possibly clashed with some kind
>> of practical threshold above which coins were inconvenient to carry or
>> handle.
>
>Was the size of coins really an issue, though?
>
>How were people in the United States handling the 20-dollar coins, or even
>the Liberty silver dollars?
Wasn't the $20 gold piece smaller than the Liberty dollar? As I recall
gold is more dense than silver.
>The Eisenhower dollars of the 1970s were also quite big, and I believe that
>they were in general circulation.
They were the same size at the Liberty IIRC.
sweller
> The Channel Islands still have one-pound notes in regular circulation,
> incidentally. I refer to both Guernsey and Jersey.
So does the Isle of Man - I got a couple in change when I was there for
the TT this year.
--
Simon
Brighton
ex-Westbury, ex-Aberystwyth
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
news:Pine.LNX.4.64.08...@urchin.earth.li...
> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008, houn...@yahoo.co.uk wrote:
>
> I have a bag in which i've been accumulating interesting coins for 15-20
> years (ever since i had coins, basically!). It's mostly the special
> designs of UK pounds, two pounds and 50ps, plus various coins from the
> channel islands, Man and Gibraltar.
I have noticed lately that there appear to be much less coins 1- and 2-pound
coins, plus 50-pence coins with special reverses in circulation. Is it
becoming a trend for the general public to hoard these coins?
> The most interesting things are a St Helena & Ascension pound, which is a
> fairly dull design with some birds on it,
I rather liked that design.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
news:tqm7549ikihb8b8t8...@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 14 Jun 2008 12:41:19 +0100, <houn...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in
> misc.transport.urban-transit:
>
> gold is more dense than silver.
It's possible that it had a smllaer diameter, but not by that much. They
were used in general circulation, in any event, as were the silver dollar
coins.
>>The Eisenhower dollars of the 1970s were also quite big, and I believe
>>that
>>they were in general circulation.
>
> They were the same size at the Liberty IIRC.
I think that you are right, based on my own recollections.
Like I said, however, they were quite large and in circulation.
It was when they introduced the Susan B. Anothony dollars that complications
started with dollar coins in the United States, IIRC, because their size
allowed them to be easily confused with a 25-cent coin. Would it not have
been easier to put shape on the coin's circumference, as many nations do?
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
news:xn0frfi8...@news.individual.net...
> <houn...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
>> The Channel Islands still have one-pound notes in regular circulation,
>> incidentally. I refer to both Guernsey and Jersey.
>
> So does the Isle of Man - I got a couple in change when I was there for
> the TT this year.
>
with pound coins, because I never saw or received any in change when I
visited.
What about other dependencies or colonies that have their currency pegged to
the pound sterling?
Mark Brader
> to find any coins from before 1964, because they had all previously
> contained silver.
For the sake of precision: that's dimes and higher coins, from
before 1965.
Actually, for some reason they continued to make half-dollars
containing silver (only 40% instead of 90% as before) for another
6 years, and I've seen it claimed that this was a factor in the
almost total disappearance of the coin from circulation about then.
--
Mark Brader | "I was gratified to be able to answer promptly, and I did.
Toronto | I said I didn't know."
m...@vex.net | --Mark Twain, "Life on the Mississippi"
Charles Ellson
>
>"Charles Ellson" <cha...@ellson.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
>news:48705416cauftv1b1...@4ax.com...
>> On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:27 +0100, "Peter Masson"
>> <peter....@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>> That might be down to interpretation. The last intentionally-regular
>> issues for general circulation seem to have been after the 1887 Royal
>> Jubilee. Since then have been mostly commemorative issues but even
>> before Victoria's time they don't seem to have been established as an
>> "everyday" issue. I suspect their size possibly clashed with some kind
>> of practical threshold above which coins were inconvenient to carry or
>> handle.
>
>Was the size of coins really an issue, though?
>
Think also in terms of "Is that the smallest you've got?". For the
ordinary person they possibly had the same inconvenience as a 50 or
100 pound note now has for everyday use.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
"Mark Brader" <m...@vex.net> wrote in message
news:bZednTi766FPp8nV...@vex.net...
>> Same thing happened in the United States -- it is next to impossible
>> to find any coins from before 1964, because they had all previously
>> contained silver.
>
> For the sake of precision: that's dimes and higher coins, from
> before 1965.
> Actually, for some reason they continued to make half-dollars
> containing silver (only 40% instead of 90% as before) for another
> 6 years, and I've seen it claimed that this was a factor in the
> almost total disappearance of the coin from circulation about then.
> --
What is/was the situation with Canadian coins?
Charles Ellson
Picking first on the 1c [from www.mint.ca]:-
"Today's one-cent coin, modified in 2000 to reduce cost, is made of
copper-plated steel (94% steel, 1.5% nickel, 4.5% copper). From 1997
until 2000, the coin was made of copper-plated zinc. Prior to 1997 the
one-cent coin was 98% copper, 1.75% zinc and 0.25% other metals."
25c:-
1908-1919 92.5% silver
1920-1967 80% silver
1967-1968 50% silver
1968-1999 99.9% nickel
2000-date 94% steel (cupro-nickel plated)
A circulating 2 dollar coin was introduced in 1996 to replace
banknotes as was also the 1 dollar in 1987.
The 50 cent seems to be the Canadian version of the Crown:-
"The current design was produced by former Royal Canadian Mint
engraver Thomas Shingles and was first used in 1959. In recent
decades, the fifty-cent circulation coin has not been widely used in
day-to-day transactions, yet it remains popular with coin collectors."
Mark Brader
>>> to find any coins from before 1964, because they had all previously
>>> contained silver.
>> For the sake of precision: that's dimes and higher coins, from
>> before 1965.
> What is/was the situation with Canadian coins?
Pretty much the same. For coins of 10 cents and up there was a rapid
transition in 1967-68 from 80% silver to 50% silver to no silver.
ObRail: when I returned to London in 1975 for the first time since I
was a baby, you could use a payphone for 2p and ride the tube for 5p.
Over here the corresponding prices were 10 cents and 3 trips for $1 --
about 4p per call and 14p per trip. But in both cases, ours were flat
rates while yours were minimum charges (and 5p would only take you about
3 stops, after which the next fare was 10p).
--
Mark Brader, Toronto "Ever wonder why they call the screen
m...@vex.net a vacuum tube?" -- Kent Paul Dolan
My text in this article is in the public domain.
Bruce Fletcher (Stronsay, Orkney)
And the Clydesdale Bank's one-pound notes are accepted almost everywhere
in these parts.
--
Bruce Fletcher
Stronsay, Orkney
Stephen Allcroft
> On Wed, 11 Jun 2008 18:11:27 +0100, "Peter Masson"
>
>
> >"Charles Ellson" <char...@ellson.demon.co.uk> wrote
>
> >> Crowns tended to be issued above face value in proof condition but the
> >> 1953 coins were IMU the first to be issued as part of a set of coins
> >> in "uncirculated" condition (as was the 1965 Churchill Crown). AFAIAA
> >> the 1953 uncirculated set was issued at or near face value so many
> >> (like my mother's) possibly disappeared/dispersed when there was an
> >> urgent need for cash.
>
> >When were crowns last minted as normal currency, as opposed to
> >commemoratives?
>
> That might be down to interpretation. The last intentionally-regular
> issues for general circulation seem to have been after the 1887 Royal
> Jubilee. Since then have been mostly commemorative issues but even
> before Victoria's time they don't seem to have been established as an
> "everyday" issue. I suspect their size possibly clashed with some kind
> of practical threshold above which coins were inconvenient to carry or
> handle.
Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
small to be convenient to handle.
Stephen Allcroft
> "sweller" <swel...@mztech.fsnet.co.uk> wrote in message
>
> news:xn0frfi8...@news.individual.net...> <hounsl...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
>
> >> The Channel Islands still have one-pound notes in regular circulation,
> >> incidentally. I refer to both Guernsey and Jersey.
>
> > So does the Isle of Man - I got a couple in change when I was there for
> > the TT this year.
>
> Really? I was under the impression that they had been completely replaced
> with pound coins, because I never saw or received any in change when I
> visited.
>
> What about other dependencies or colonies that have their currency pegged to
> the pound sterling?
Neither dependent nor colonised but we in Scotland still have pound
notes (issued by private banks).
Peter Masson
"Stephen Allcroft" <stephen...@lycos.co.uk> wrote
>
> Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
> small to be convenient to handle.
It is only slightly smaller than the pre-decimal sixpence, which was a
pretty popular coin. The silver threepence was smaller, and it was unpopular
(and not infrequently got swallowed in Christmas pudding). One of the
reasons why it was replaced with the twelve-sided brass coin was that people
wouldn't use it to pay bus fares, so bus conductors ended up with vast
quantities of pennies, to the extent that London Transport handled in the
1930s about 600 tons per year of 'copper' coins.
Peter
Peter Masson
"Stephen Allcroft" <stephen...@lycos.co.uk> wrote
>
> Neither dependent nor colonised but we in Scotland still have pound
> notes (issued by private banks).
Only the Royal Bank of Scotland still issues one pound notes, though all
three Scottish banks issue GBP100 notes, which is more than the Bank of
England does. The Scottish banks have to have their banknotes backed by Bank
of England notes, and for this purpose the Bank of England has issued notes
for GBP1 million and GBP100 million.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/other_notes.htm
Peter
James Farrar
They're almost impossible to pick up when dropped on a hard floor
without long fingernails. I've taken to hoarding them, along with
pennies and tuppences, and exchanging them at the bank when I have a
bagful.
James Farrar
<peter....@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>"Stephen Allcroft" <stephen...@lycos.co.uk> wrote
>>
>> Neither dependent nor colonised but we in Scotland still have pound
>> notes (issued by private banks).
>
>Only the Royal Bank of Scotland still issues one pound notes, though all
>three Scottish banks issue GBP100 notes, which is more than the Bank of
>England does.
Really? When did they stop? They certainly used to issue a £100 note.
Peter Masson
"James Farrar" <james.s...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:jorf54lk6m3foe8ju...@4ax.com...
Last issued in 1943. Ceased to be legal tender in 1945.
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/denom_guide/index.htm
Peter
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
news:f18d8828-a612-42a2...@m73g2000hsh.googlegroups.com...
> Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
> small to be convenient to handle.
Have you ever seen a Dutch 10-cent coin? They were smaller than the 5p
coins, IIRC.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
>>Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
>>small to be convenient to handle.
>
> They're almost impossible to pick up when dropped on a hard floor
> without long fingernails. I've taken to hoarding them, along with
> pennies and tuppences, and exchanging them at the bank when I have a
> bagful.
Is there any estimate on how much in coins people are hoarding?
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
The highest denomination banknote that I have ever seen issued was for
$100,000, bearing the portrait of late US president Woodrow Wilson.
But that was actually for a substantial amount. I am not counting banknotes
from Yugoslavia, for example, which had a 1 billion-dinar note, due because
of hyper inflation.
Speaking of the BoE's Website, is there a tentative schedule for when other
F series banknotes are to be introduced? I also seem to recall that there
are coins with completely different reverses for all denominations starting
from this year.
Peter Masson
<houn...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote in message
news:nMU5k.86540$9x.7...@newsfe05.ams2...
> "Peter Masson" <peter....@privacy.net> wrote
> > The Scottish banks have to have their banknotes backed by Bank
> > of England notes, and for this purpose the Bank of England has issued
> > notes for GBP1 million and GBP100 million.
> > http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/other_notes.htm
> >
> ???
>
> The highest denomination banknote that I have ever seen issued was for
> $100,000, bearing the portrait of late US president Woodrow Wilson.
>
> But that was actually for a substantial amount. I am not counting
banknotes
> from Yugoslavia, for example, which had a 1 billion-dinar note, due
because
> of hyper inflation.
>
http://www.bankofengland.co.uk/banknotes/about/other_notes.htm
I like the point that the GBP1 million and GBP100 million notes are 'not for
general circulation.'
Peter
Ian Jelf
<peter....@privacy.net> writes
At infant school in 1969-70 our playtime milk break[1] biscuits cost 3d.
We were only allowed to pay for them with a single 3d coin, NOT we were
told in no uncertain terms, in three pennies, as teachers "didn't have
time to count them all"!
Could you imagine today's press angle on that?!
[1] This all seems very archaic now. ;-)
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK
Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk
James Farrar
If you believe this American eco-nut, somewhere in the order of £400
million.
http://www.greenlivingtips.com/articles/134/1/Coin-hoarding-and-the-environment.html
"According to the research I was able to do, in Ireland, approximately
$60 million of coins are being hoarded. In the UK it's somewhere in
the region of three quarters of a billion dollars worth!"
Sounds reasonable. Right now I've got about £6 not counting the "in
use" ones.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
"Ian Jelf" <i...@bluebadge.demon.co.uk> wrote in message
news:bXcSv0vM...@bluebadge.demon.co.uk...
> At infant school in 1969-70 our playtime milk break[1] biscuits cost 3d.
> We were only allowed to pay for them with a single 3d coin, NOT we were
> told in no uncertain terms, in three pennies, as teachers "didn't have
> time to count them all"!
>
> Could you imagine today's press angle on that?!
>
>
> [1] This all seems very archaic now. ;-)
> --
Perhaps they thought that it would be easier for the pupils to keep track of
one coin, rather than two or three?
MIG
> On Tue, 17 Jun 2008 20:55:59 +0100, <hounsl...@yahoo.co.uk> wrote:
> >"James Farrar" <james.s.far...@gmail.com> wrote in message
> >news:slrf54tnqi4a33p20...@4ax.com...
>
> >>>Todays 5p IMHO clashes with the lower threshold where coins are too
> >>>small to be convenient to handle.
>
> >> They're almost impossible to pick up when dropped on a hard floor
> >> without long fingernails. I've taken to hoarding them, along with
> >> pennies and tuppences, and exchanging them at the bank when I have a
> >> bagful.
>
> >Is there any estimate on how much in coins people are hoarding?
>
> If you believe this American eco-nut, somewhere in the order of £400
> million.
>
>
> "According to the research I was able to do, in Ireland, approximately
> $60 million of coins are being hoarded. In the UK it's somewhere in
> the region of three quarters of a billion dollars worth!"
>
> Sounds reasonable. Right now I've got about £6 not counting the "in
> use" ones.
A few years ago I had got into the habit of chucking all my brown
money into a box.
I didn't know what to do with it till Sainsburys provided a machine to
count it and give you a receipt that you could take to the till for
the equivalent in sensible denominations (minus an outrageous 7%).
The problem was that I could barely pick up the money and had to put
it in a large rucksack to get it there. I got over £80 even with the
ripoff.
But it would require about 9 million people to do something similar to
add up to the three quarters of a (presumably American) billion
suggested. I am not one of them any more.
MIG
Oops I meant American billion (ie nine zeros instead of twelve), but
not American currency. That would make it a few less people needed.
houn...@yahoo.co.uk
"MIG" <googl...@doreenbird.co.uk> wrote in message
news:965673b2-799c-4e8d...@k13g2000hse.googlegroups.com...
A few years ago I had got into the habit of chucking all my brown
money into a box.
I didn't know what to do with it till Sainsburys provided a machine to
count it and give you a receipt that you could take to the till for
the equivalent in sensible denominations (minus an outrageous 7%).
The problem was that I could barely pick up the money and had to put
it in a large rucksack to get it there. I got over £80 even with the
ripoff.
But it would require about 9 million people to do something similar to
add up to the three quarters of a (presumably American) billion
suggested. I am not one of them any more.
***
Is it not possible to take the money to bank, particularly where one might
have an account, rather than to go through one of those counting machines?
Roland Perry
Jun 2008, houn...@yahoo.co.uk remarked:
>Is it not possible to take the money to bank, particularly where one might
>have an account, rather than to go through one of those counting machines?
Last time I did that they almost threw me out. But seeing as there
wasn't a queue they counted it and accepted it and told me not to do it
again. I think they normally require bulk change sorted, bagged and
weighed, which they can then quickly check by re-weighing.
--
Roland Perry
James Farrar
wrote:
Which is what I do. Because I'm nice like that :-)
They want 100 pennies, 50 tuppences or 100 five pence pieces in a bag.
Not sure above that.
You can get the bags from any high street bank and I've never had a
problem with using the "wrong" bank's bag...
Tim Roll-Pickering
> Is it not possible to take the money to bank, particularly where one might
> have an account, rather than to go through one of those counting machines?
Banks vary quite a bit on this. When I first got a current account in 1992
one of the considerations was the ability to pay in loose coins. Even then
some banks wouldn't take them out of hours. Now even my bank is switching
its payin machines from "deposit an envelope" to "feed in the notes and
cheques" with no cash option.
What the heck are people meant to do with their loose change? Debit cards
haven't totally taken over the universe yet.
James Farrar
£400 million, say 50 million people old enough to have coins (I have
no idea of the population age distribution but 40 million seems too
low and 60 million too high) makes for an average of £8 per person.
It could be a total figure for coins held by people (rather than
shops/banks) including "in use" coins, I suppose.
BH Williams
amount for the bag, £1 for 'copper', £5 for 'silver' and £ 20 for £1/£2
coins), and only count them if there is a discrepancy between the actual
weight and the norm. Bags seem to be in a 'pool', and I've never had
problems with the wrong sort of bag in all the years I've done it. In the
days of telephone stamps, the change used to serve to buy these, taking some
of the sting out of paying the quarterly bill.
Brian
Tom Anderson
Buy sweets.
I used to accumulate coppers, and then have to deal with paying them in.
Then i realised i could just accumulate them in my pocket up to the sum of
10p, then use them to replace a 10p coin in my next transaction. These
days, i rarely own more than a few coppers.
tom
--
forget everything from school - you are programmer
Peter Masson
"BH Williams" <bhwil...@letra.co.uk> wrote
> >
> > You can get the bags from any high street bank and I've never had a
> > problem with using the "wrong" bank's bag...
> Banks and post offices weigh the money (which must be in the prescribed
> amount for the bag, £1 for 'copper', £5 for 'silver' and £ 20 for £1/£2
> coins), and only count them if there is a discrepancy between the actual
> weight and the norm. Bags seem to be in a 'pool', and I've never had
> problems with the wrong sort of bag in all the years I've done it.
£10 for 20p or 50p coins. If you are paying coins in, and haven't got a full
bag, they can still weigh what you've got, and only seem to resort to
counting if there aren't very many coins. They do, though, like you to
separate different denominations.
Peter