FOLLOWING the recent story in the County Press about the 50th anniversary of Decimal Day, Sandown resident Jim Garrod has contacted us with his memory of decimalisation.
He said: "In 1971, I was working in East Anglia, supplying catering equipment and calling on pubs, restaurants, and electrical retailers.
"In the run-up to decimalisation day, the government laid on various events to inform traders as to what they must do when the time came. It was costly for those that had to have material re-printed and signs re-written, and to some it was reminiscent of wartime, when locations were kept secret."
Many people carried round handy currency converters like this one in their pockets.
Jim continued: "As I remember it, things went as well as could be expected, although one or two local butchers and greengrocers would have nothing to do with the new money, and continued with shillings and pence as always. They got away with it for a while, until council inspectors came down on them and threatened them with prosecution.
"I’d say it took a year or more for the general public to feel relaxed with the new money, even though a hundred pence to the pound is obviously simpler than two hundred and forty."
Who remembers the one pound note? First issued by the Bank of England in 1797, it continued to be printed until 1984, when it was replaced by the £1 coin.
Jim added: "A sad consequence is that many people now say 'p' instead of penny, which sounds awful. No-one ever said 'd' for the old penny. Not even a child would have said 'one pence', but that was heard from a high-up Chancellor of the Exchequer not long ago.
"It appears that things really were better in the old days!"
READ AGAIN: Do you remember Britain's D-Day for decimalisation?
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Do you have memories of making the switch between shillings and the new money 50 years ago? If you remember working late to make sure the tills were ready for the change at your local shop, or learning about the new coinage at school, we would love to hear about it. Simply click the submissions box below to tell us more!
Decimal Day
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