Britain in the 60s

[zabadak]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I remember there was such a thing as a penny wafer in our sweet shop. After decimalisation, there still was! In other words, the manufactures had snuck in a 2.4% price increase!!!

[Arran]

Re: Britain in the 60s

The old half penny was demonitised on 1 January 1970 along with the half crown. Everything was in increments of an old penny shortly before decimalisation.

The inflation was not really the result of the changeover to decimal currency but shopkeepers took advantage of unfamiliarity of decimal prices amongst customers to bump the price of goods up a few pence. Shortly afterwards there was the Nixon Shock and the Oil Crisis which resulted in high levels of inflation.

[staffslad]

Re: Britain in the 60s

Agreed, decimalisation coincided with stagflation (stagnation and inflation), but was not a result of it.

[George 1978]

Re: Britain in the 60s

And the farthing (a quarter of an old penny) was abolished in 1960 - amazing that one decimal penny is nearly ten times that amount.

I have always been confused about the difference between a pound and a guinea - were they separate currencies originally? I know that a guinea was one pound and a shilling (later 5p of course) - it would have been a bit daft to have issued a £1.05 note as result of directly converting the guinea decimally.

[Arran]

Re: Britain in the 60s

A Guinea was a gold coin originally with a face value of £1. It was later realised that they contained too much gold so they were revalued at £1 1s or £1.05 in decimal. Eventually they were replaced by gold £1 coins but the term Guinea remained in popular culture until decimalisation. Even in the 1960s it was common to price in Guineas in posh clothes shops, solicitor's fees, and auctions as a means of bumping up the price by 5%. 20 Guineas = £21. Some landlords charged rent in Guineas as well.

[George 1978]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I suppose that the Guinea became defunct when decimalisation arrived in 1971 - I am surprised that Australia didn't even keep the pound when they went decimal (in 1966?) instead of adopting the dollar.

[Richard1978]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I suppose that the Guinea became defunct when decimalisation arrived in 1971 - I am surprised that Australia didn't even keep the pound when they went decimal (in 1966?) instead of adopting the dollar.

Australia decimalised by introducing the Dollar worth 10 shillings, which was one idea the UK considered for decimalisation, but wanted to keep the pound at the same value.

[Zincubus]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I suppose that the Guinea became defunct when decimalisation arrived in 1971 - I am surprised that Australia didn't even keep the pound when they went decimal (in 1966?) instead of adopting the dollar.

I was still at school when decimalisation came in !!

We went into the local shop to buy sweets/toffees before school with the new coins snd were shocked when we came out with about half as many sweets !!


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[tex]

Re: Britain in the 60s

Went to a 60s concert at the manchester opera house about a month back, on the bill were Hermans hermits, amen corner,Chris farlow,The searchers. Problem was most of the original band members were deceased so you had 30 year old musicians in bands formed 50 years ago. That said it was a most enjoyable show

[George 1978]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I was still at school when decimalisation came in !!

We went into the local shop to buy sweets/toffees before school with the new coins snd were shocked when we came out with about half as many sweets !!

I bet that penny chews were difficult to sell because of inflation.

Watching that Funny Money documentary, they showed a clip of an Australian PIF which was a black and white cartoon about going decimal, and had the lyrics:

"In come the dollars and in go the cents
To replace the pounds, and the shillings, and the pence..."

[zabadak]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I remember there was such a thing as a penny wafer in our sweet shop. After decimalisation, there still was! In other words, the manufactures had snuck in a 2.4% price increase!!!

...or should that be 240%?

[Donald the Great]

Re: Britain in the 60s

My wife was almost a £10 pom, when she was 5-6 years old her dad got a job in Australia and the family were all set to emigrate but there was a complete change of heart at the last moment and ofcourse it didn't happen,hard to imagine how my own life would of been so different as a result.

Life's twists and turns tex.

[Donald the Great]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I bet that penny chews were difficult to sell because of inflation.

Watching that Funny Money documentary, they showed a clip of an Australian PIF which was a black and white cartoon about going decimal, and had the lyrics:

"In come the dollars and in go the cents
To replace the pounds, and the shillings, and the pence..."

That is true. We went decimal in 1966.

[Donald the Great]

Re: Britain in the 60s

Went to a 60s concert at the manchester opera house about a month back, on the bill were Hermans hermits, amen corner,Chris farlow,The searchers. Problem was most of the original band members were deceased so you had 30 year old musicians in bands formed 50 years ago. That said it was a most enjoyable show

Hermans Hermits still going. One of my fave Brit 60s groups.

[George 1978]

Re: Britain in the 60s

I was still at school when decimalisation came in !!

We went into the local shop to buy sweets/toffees before school with the new coins snd were shocked when we came out with about half as many sweets !!

I bet that Maths lessons at school were fun around the time of Decimalisation - I read that an ITV Schools programme made in around 1968 which was a Mathematics series had an episode about money which had to be remade when Britain went decimal due to the fact it became out of date as soon as 15th February 1971 came along.

And series like Coronation Street and On the Buses had episodes where the characters explored decimalisation - two years before there was an episode of Coronation Street around the time that the 50p coin was introduced and showed a Rovers scene with Jack Walker referring to the new 50p as a "foreign coin", and Betty Turpin saying that it wasn't foreign. Just shows you how conservative elderly people were back then.