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KNOTTINGLEY
IN 1971
21st January 1971
D (for decimal) Day is Monday, February 15
Less
than a month away, this is the day we say goodbye forever to the currency
we have known all our lives and start getting to know and to use an
entirely new set of coins. Let us take a look at what is happening and
why.
The
decimal system is used in almost every country in the world except
Britain, so by joining the ‘decimal club’ we shall no longer be the
odd one out and we should gain obvious advantages. Our decimal currency
will be based on the pound sterling, and the familiar pound note will
remain - we therefore start off with an old friend in our pocket or purse.
Instead of consisting of 20 shillings, or 240 pennies, however, the
decimal pound will be divided into 100 new pence. This is the first
essential we must understand - that 100 new pence equals our decimal
pound.
In
February we shall have six new coins to deal with, three of which, the 50
pence, the 10 pence and the five pence, we have been using for months. The
other three, the two pence, one pence, and half pence we shall be seeing
for the first time next month.
Since
April 1968, we have been getting used to the 10 pence piece, which is
similar in size to the two-shilling piece (sometimes called the florin)
and the five-pence, which corresponds in size to the one-shilling piece.
Actually the florin was originally minted in 1849 as a first step in an
intended change to the decimal currency system so the idea of establishing
a system of currency common to our neighbour’s is not entirely new.
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