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Pre-decimalisation nostalgia thread

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lewist
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Pre-decimalisation nostalgia thread

#1 Post by lewist » July 21st, 2007, 6:27 am

{The following posts have been split off from the Humanism Party thread - admin}


Maria wrote:'nine bob note' mean anything? Probably not unless you're a Brit of at least 40 years of age. :sad:
Maria! I remember when you could have a good Friday night at the Whey Pat with four pints followed by a fishcake supper at the Kinness Fry on the way home and all for ten bob!

In our musical family now, however, we have the expression, two songs short of an album.

Moose
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#2 Post by Moose » July 24th, 2007, 3:39 pm

ten bob sounds a bit expensive for all that ;).

I was born three or four years after decimalisation. Would have been fascinating to have been around to see it happen I think.
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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Alan C.
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#3 Post by Alan C. » July 24th, 2007, 4:03 pm

Moose
I was born three or four years after decimalisation. Would have been fascinating to have been around to see it happen I think.
I think it was the biggest con ever pulled on the British public.
The cost of everything rose overnight, and where things used to go up by 1d or 2d, now things were going up by 1p or 2p which is around 110% more.
Moose, I can't remember where I was when J F K got shot.
But the day we went decimal, I was in the pub half way up the market, it was The Queens arms then, but I think its been changed 3 or 4 times. :innocence:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

Moose
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#4 Post by Moose » July 24th, 2007, 4:18 pm

I am not sure that I follow you .. the value of one d was surely far greater (in real terms) than the value of one penny so surely things only going up by a penny when they went up by one d before decimilisation means that the shopper was SAVING money? :)
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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Alan H
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#5 Post by Alan H » July 24th, 2007, 5:00 pm

Moose wrote:I am not sure that I follow you .. the value of one d was surely far greater (in real terms) than the value of one penny so surely things only going up by a penny when they went up by one d before decimilisation means that the shopper was SAVING money? :)
12 old pennies in a shilling and 12 shillings in a pound, therefore:

1d was 1/240 of a £

100 new p in a pound, therefore:

1p is 1/100 of a £

Therefore 1p = 2.4d, or 1d = 0.42p

Therefore 1 old penny was worth less than half a new penny.

However, although there were lots of stories about prices going up, I'm not sure what real evidence there was for this and it may just have been hype by the detractors of decimalisation. This would be easy to prove by looking at the inflation rate around that time.

(Sorry, a load too many 'therefores' in this this post!)

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#6 Post by Maria Mac » July 24th, 2007, 5:26 pm

Moose wrote:
I was born three or four years after decimalisation. Would have been fascinating to have been around to see it happen I think.
Fascinating to have spent one's primary school years crying over sums involving £ s d, only to be told to forget it all two years into secondary school.

:sad:


The best thing about decimalisation was the jingles:

Use your old coppers in sixpenny lots!

Use your old coppers in sixpenny lots!


:dance:


Give more, get change!

Give more, get change!


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Alan C.
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#7 Post by Alan C. » July 24th, 2007, 8:04 pm

Alan H.
12 old pennies in a shilling and 12 shillings in a pound, therefore:
How old (young) are you? My £s had 20 shillings. :wink:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

Moose
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#8 Post by Moose » July 24th, 2007, 9:33 pm

Alan - I know that technically there were more old pennies in an old pound than new pennies in a new pound but everything I have ever read has indicated that you could get WAY more with an old penny than a new. I might be wrong there :). But I thought that the relative value was completely different and that that's what the whole idea was. For instance .. a shilling became five new pence, but surely even in the early days you could not get with five pence what you could have got with a shilling? Or could you?
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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Alan H
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#9 Post by Alan H » July 24th, 2007, 9:40 pm

Alan C. wrote:
Alan H.
12 old pennies in a shilling and 12 shillings in a pound, therefore:
How old (young) are you? My £s had 20 shillings. :wink:
Ah! I didn't realise we were talking about British pounds...
:redface:

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Lifelinking
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#10 Post by Lifelinking » July 24th, 2007, 9:49 pm

Why, do they have bigger ... sporrans?!




naw, we have designer string vests..





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"Who thinks the law has anything to do with justice? It's what we have because we can't have justice."
William McIlvanney

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Alan C.
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#11 Post by Alan C. » July 25th, 2007, 12:59 am

Bloody hell Moose! I don't know if I can cope with this at this time of night, but I'll try, bear with me.
"Moose"]Alan - I know that technically there were more old pennies in an old pound than new pennies in a new pound
There was no NEW pound, they simply changed it from being worth 144 pennies to being worth 100 pence.
but everything I have ever read has indicated that you could get WAY more with an old penny than a new. I might be wrong there :).
Maybe in 1948, you could get more with an old penny than you can NOW with a new penny.
a shilling became five new pence, but surely even in the early days you could not get with five pence what you could have got with a shilling? Or could you?
First off, let me say I don't like your use of the term "early days" you make me sound ancient :wink: A shilling simply became 5 pence as opposed to 12 pennies, so when something went up by say 6 pence, it wasn't going up by just over half a shilling (sixpence) it was going up by more than a shilling, (a shilling + 1.4 pennies)
Let me give you an example. At the time of decimalisation, a pint of beer in Bransty legion, cost 1s 11d and it would go up maybe a penny a year.
The day after decimilisaton it went up to 10p to "round it off" there was hell on.
Now if you go back to 1971, a pint of beer costing 10p, and add 1d per year, a pint would now cost 5 shilling, or 25 pence.
Now I know we've got to allow for inflation and stuff, but hey come on.
25p a pint, a opposed to what? £2.50.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

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#12 Post by Moose » July 25th, 2007, 11:43 am

My brain is bleeding but one thing leaped out at me...

THERE'S SOMEWHERE ON BRANSTY WHERE I CAN GET BEER FOR 10 PENCE A PINT?!?!
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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Alan C.
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#13 Post by Alan C. » July 25th, 2007, 11:50 am

Moose.
THERE'S SOMEWHERE ON BRANSTY WHERE I CAN GET BEER FOR 10 PENCE A PINT?!?!
:laughter: You could in 1971.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

Moose
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#14 Post by Moose » July 25th, 2007, 1:24 pm

Sheesh, you coulda told me that BEFORE I scooted over there and started demanding all the local publicans sell me Fosters for that price...
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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#15 Post by Nick » July 25th, 2007, 7:51 pm

Alan C. wrote:There was no NEW pound, they simply changed it from being worth 144 pennies to being worth 100 pence.
Ahem... when I was in short trousers, there were 240 pennies in a pound

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#16 Post by Alan C. » July 25th, 2007, 8:42 pm

Nick wrote:
Alan C. wrote:There was no NEW pound, they simply changed it from being worth 144 pennies to being worth 100 pence.
Ahem... when I was in short trousers, there were 240 pennies in a pound
Jeezus I must have caught it off Alan H :redface:
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

lewist
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#17 Post by lewist » July 25th, 2007, 9:54 pm

Alan C. wrote:
Nick wrote:
Alan C. wrote:There was no NEW pound, they simply changed it from being worth 144 pennies to being worth 100 pence.
Ahem... when I was in short trousers, there were 240 pennies in a pound
Jeezus I must have caught it off Alan H :redface:
I remember going to the bank for my Dad (who had a fruit shop) to get change, and 240 of those big pennies took some carrying for a wee fella. But all the coins were bigger. No wonder people got holes in their pockets!

I don't want to beyond my student boozing days in the Whey Pat but I do remember a penny dainty was really big and it only cost one penny, one big old round brown penny!

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#18 Post by Alan C. » July 25th, 2007, 10:46 pm

Lewist
a penny dainty
Would that be like the "penny bun" we used to get on the way to the pictures on Saturday afternoons? fresh out of the oven.
Abstinence Makes the Church Grow Fondlers.

lewist
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#19 Post by lewist » July 26th, 2007, 8:46 am

Alan C. wrote:
Lewist
a penny dainty
Would that be like the "penny bun" we used to get on the way to the pictures on Saturday afternoons? fresh out of the oven.
No, Alan, it was a lump of McCowan's toffee. And that in the days when there was no fluoride in the water and we lived - as most Scots do - in a soft water area. No wonder I have a mouth full of fillings. The grown ups blamed us children for the state of our teeth. :sad:

The trouble with the Penny Dainty was that it was misnamed. It was anything but dainty and you could hardly get it in your gob. It was also impossible to break in half. Good, though!

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#20 Post by Moose » July 26th, 2007, 11:52 am

*gets nostalgic for a time that she wasn't actually born into*

I remember the old pennies .. I've still got the odd one floating around. And the shillings and two shillings which became respectively five and ten pence pieces..
All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain
Time to die

EF

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