Loved the unboxing of the ten shilling note. 😂 I remember the furore about the £1 coin taking over the pound note. And can you imagine if we'd joined the Euro!😂
@@mariostar13 Many of the British are convinced that companies used decimalisation as an excuse to increase prices. This would fit with that theory. However also at this time London Transport was losing money hand over fist (I think it is at this time they embarked on the Bus Reshaping Plan) so increased prices may have been because of this.
For more than a thousand years, from the year 775 AD until 14-February 1971, England used the Carolingian monetary system. During those years, a Pound was worth 240 pence. This currency system continued until the formation of Great Britain (1700s) and United Kingdom (1800s). 1 Pound = 20 shillings 1 Shilling = 12 pence A penny is further divided into half penny and one-fourth penny called farthing. If the price of an item cost less than a shilling (pence only), it is written as 11d, 10d, 9d, 5¼d, etc. The letter "d" means "denarius". It is the Latin word for the standard silver coin introduced by the Romans. If the price has both shillings and pence, it is written with slash (/) as separator. Example: 15 shillings and 6 pence is written as 15/6. If the price is exactly 15 shillings without pence, it is written as 15/- If the price has pounds, shillings and pence, the separator can either be slash (/) or dash (-). Example: 2 pounds, 15 shillings and 6 pence is written as £2/15/6 or £2-15-6. When adding prices, you should have memorised the 12 Times Table to be able to add prices. For example, you bought 5 items in a supermarket: Item#1 is 15/7 Item#2 is 16/8 Item#3 is 17/9 Item#4 is 18/10 Item#5 is 19/11 Total in shillings and pence: 88/9 Total in £sd: £4/8/9 By adding all the shillings and all the pence, you will get a total of 85 shillings and 45 pence. To get the exact amount in shillings and pence, you need to think how many shillings are there in 45 pence. The answer is 3 shillings with a remainder of 9 pence. Add 3 shillings to 85 shillings; you'll get a total of 88 shillings. Therefore, the total amount you bought in the supermarket was 88 shillings and 9 pence (88/9) or 4 Pounds 8 shillings 9 pence (£4/8/9). This is the reason why back in the days, British children were taught to memorise the 12 Times Table. To make it simple, the old money of Britain was similar to the height of a person expressed in feet and inches. Examples: 5'7, 5'9, 5'11, 6'2. The amount in shillings is similar to the number of feet while the amount in pence is similar to the number of inches. A lot of people born after 1971 (or not yet an adult in 1971) thought that the Pounds, Shillings and Pence was a very difficult system when it was still in use in Britain. Videos in youtube always give the impression that it was a very complicated system. Someone even made a comment that it would be very difficult to give change if you are selling an item worth £1/5/9 (1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence) and the customer gave you a £5 note. hahahahaha... His comment shows that he did not live during the pre-decimal era. In schools, children were taught the arithmetic of the Pounds, Shillings and Pence system but in reality people in Britain don't count money in Pounds in their everyday lives; they only count in shillings and pence. It should be noted that after World War-2, there were only 3 banknotes in Britain: 10-shilling note, £1 note (20 shillings) and £5 note (100 shillings). The £10 note (200 shillings) was only re-introduced in 1964 while the £20 note (400 shillings) was re-introduced in 1970. During the pre-decimal era, prices in street markets, stores, supermarkets, department stores and even petrol stations were expressed in shillings and pence only. At Harrods or Marks & Spencer, you would see the prices of items were 67/8, 45/6, 54/10, 49/11, etc. The "Pounds, Shillings and Pence" will only show on the cash register during check out. In street markets, there were no cash registers, sellers just count and compute for change in their heads or using a pen and paper. During that time, shilling was the de facto main unit of currency while the Pound was the de facto superunit. The Pound as the de jure main unit of currency was only expressed in prices of expensive products such as TVs, refrigerators, cars, etc., in real estate properties and in big business transactions especially in international trade and commerce. If an item only costs 1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence, it would be written as 25/9 instead of £1/5/9. If the customer gave a £5 note which is equivalent to 100 shillings, the customer's change is obviously 74/3. The seller would then give the customer three £1 notes (60 shillings), one 10-shilling note, two florin coins (4 shillings) and a 3-pence coin. For the sake of that guy's curiosity on how to compute for the change if the price of an item is expressed in Pounds Shillings and Pence, here's how it works: When it comes to giving or receiving a change, you only need to remember 20 and 12. There are 20 shillings in a Pound and there are 12 pence in a shilling. If the price of an item costs 1 Pound and 5 shillings (£1/5/-) and the money given by the customer was £5, round-up £1 (1 becomes 2) and then subtract it from £5 (5-2=3). Subtract 5/- from 20/- (20-5=15). Therefore, the customer's change is 3 Pounds and 15 shillings (£3/15/-) If the price of an item costs 1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence (£1/5/9) and the money given by the customer was £5, round-up both £1 (1 becomes 2) and 5/- (5 becomes 6). Subtract £2 from £5 (5-2=3) and subtract 6/- from 20/- (20-6=14). Subtract 9 pence from 12 pence (12-9=3). Therefore, the customer's change is 3 Pounds 14 shillings and 3 pence (£3/14/3) From a currency similar to feet and inches (like a person's height) to a currency based on 10s and 100s. This is the reason why a lot of people in Britain find it hard to adjust when decimalisation was implemented in 1971 plus the fact that the decimalisation format used by the British government was flawed. From a very flexible denomination of 240 pence to a Pound, the British government chose a cramped 100 "new pence" to a Pound. On 15-February 1971, the shilling was devalued to 5 "new pence" (no longer 12) so that one Pound would be equivalent to 100 "new pence". Among former British colonies that transitioned to decimal currency, Ghana is the best. Ghana's decimal currency called Cedi (₵) is equivalent to 8 shillings and 4 pence (8/4) or 100 pence. Therefore, all the old pence are equally convertible to the new decimal currency. No need to worry about adjustment of prices; only the name of the currency and its denomination will change. 8/4 is ₵1.00 which means one Ghanaian Pound is equal to two Cedis and 40 pesewa (£1=₵2.40). In 1970, Bermuda Islands followed Ghana's decimalisation format. One Bermudian Pound is equal to two Bermudian Dollars and 40 cents (£1=$2.40). When South Africa decimalised the South African Pound, it converted 10 shillings (120 pence) to the new currency called Rand. 120 pence were converted to 100 cents. A little adjustment needs to be made when it comes to pricing and balancing bank accounts because 1.20 pence shall be equivalent to 1 cent. One South African Pound is equal to two South African Rands (£1=R2.00). South Africa's format of decimalisation from Pounds to the new decimalised currency was followed by Australia, New Zealand and Nigeria. Britain did the worst decimalisation format. Britain converted 20 shillings (240 pence) to 100 pence. Inflation was the result. The government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson was too afraid to lose the Pound as Britain's currency that's why he followed the advice of the Bank of England to retain the Pound. BOE and Harold Wilson did not follow the format of Ghana's new decimalised currency based on 8/4 (100 pence) nor South Africa's version of decimalised currency based on 10/- (120 pence converted to 100 cents). Instead, Britain decimalised the Pound by shrinking its value from 240 pence to 100 pence only. Some people in Britain even thought that the value of their money/income has diminished because in every shilling they spend (5 new pence) they were ripped off by the government for 7 pence. Devaluing the shilling from 12 pence to 5 pence was not a joke especially during the time when prices were still cheap. The ill-conceived decimalisation of the Pound in 1971 was one of the "ingredients" of the economic disaster of Britain during the turbulent decade of the 1970s. It may not be the main reason but it contributed to the economic crisis during that time. Maybe it's true that 10 is simpler than 12 or the decimal currency system is simpler than imperial currency system but the transition of Britain to decimal currency system in 1971 was NOT simple.
Wow, well said. Im from across the pond, and I am a avid collector of the old British silver coins, mostly the post 1919, and pre-1947, so 50% silver, and I do have some numismatic coins like the double florins of Queen Victoria, and I have studied a bit about the old L,S,D system and have found it so intriguing, and once I read that the British government reduced the pound to 100pence to the pound instead of the 240pence, I was like "man they just devalued their currency by 140pence" which they just double the currency supply, which is the reason for their financial troubles, just like here in the US when they debased our dollar in 1965, (we had to print more money to pay for wars) prior to that our money were made from silver, we were on the gold standard like most of the world, until 1971, when our president Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard ending Breton Woods, which started our financial troubles, we printed more it got us out, then it did more troubles and we printed more and added more laws to make banks, and other financial institutions to get bigger and more powerful, then there as the recession of 2008 and we printed more money, and now we have the highest inflation in 50 years; so it made me think that at this time (1965-1971) the world decided to devalue their currencies, remove precious metals from the people so they can print and create inflation to payoff debt.
I hated losing the old money. It allowed shops to get away with bigger price rises because in pre decimal days people noticed if something increased from one shilling and something to two shillings and something whereas now it’s not so noticeable.
Thank you this is so interesting
Loved the unboxing of the ten shilling note. 😂 I remember the furore about the £1 coin taking over the pound note. And can you imagine if we'd joined the Euro!😂
Well now that you're out of the EU, I guess it will never happen!
@@mariostar13 true.
I remember my grandmother telling me sixpence was now 2 1/2 new pee.
I’ve still got a 10/- note someplace.
5:19 - My reaction EXACTLY!
10:15 - 6d is EXACTLY convertible to 2½p. Why double the fare since the ½p piece wasn't withdrawn for 13 years?!
They claim that their machines couldn’t be converted to take coppers, only silvers.
@@sirmadness But how?! The old 6d could have been substituted for 2½p during that time!
@@mariostar13 Many of the British are convinced that companies used decimalisation as an excuse to increase prices. This would fit with that theory.
However also at this time London Transport was losing money hand over fist (I think it is at this time they embarked on the Bus Reshaping Plan) so increased prices may have been because of this.
£1 is 100 new penny 100 New Pence to the Pound...
For more than a thousand years, from the year 775 AD until 14-February 1971, England used the Carolingian monetary system. During those years, a Pound was worth 240 pence. This currency system continued until the formation of Great Britain (1700s) and United Kingdom (1800s).
1 Pound = 20 shillings
1 Shilling = 12 pence
A penny is further divided into half penny and one-fourth penny called farthing.
If the price of an item cost less than a shilling (pence only), it is written as 11d, 10d, 9d, 5¼d, etc. The letter "d" means "denarius". It is the Latin word for the standard silver coin introduced by the Romans.
If the price has both shillings and pence, it is written with slash (/) as separator. Example: 15 shillings and 6 pence is written as 15/6. If the price is exactly 15 shillings without pence, it is written as 15/-
If the price has pounds, shillings and pence, the separator can either be slash (/) or dash (-). Example: 2 pounds, 15 shillings and 6 pence is written as £2/15/6 or £2-15-6.
When adding prices, you should have memorised the 12 Times Table to be able to add prices.
For example, you bought 5 items in a supermarket:
Item#1 is 15/7
Item#2 is 16/8
Item#3 is 17/9
Item#4 is 18/10
Item#5 is 19/11
Total in shillings and pence: 88/9
Total in £sd: £4/8/9
By adding all the shillings and all the pence, you will get a total of 85 shillings and 45 pence.
To get the exact amount in shillings and pence, you need to think how many shillings are there in 45 pence. The answer is 3 shillings with a remainder of 9 pence.
Add 3 shillings to 85 shillings; you'll get a total of 88 shillings.
Therefore, the total amount you bought in the supermarket was 88 shillings and 9 pence (88/9) or 4 Pounds 8 shillings 9 pence (£4/8/9).
This is the reason why back in the days, British children were taught to memorise the 12 Times Table.
To make it simple, the old money of Britain was similar to the height of a person expressed in feet and inches. Examples: 5'7, 5'9, 5'11, 6'2. The amount in shillings is similar to the number of feet while the amount in pence is similar to the number of inches.
A lot of people born after 1971 (or not yet an adult in 1971) thought that the Pounds, Shillings and Pence was a very difficult system when it was still in use in Britain. Videos in youtube always give the impression that it was a very complicated system. Someone even made a comment that it would be very difficult to give change if you are selling an item worth £1/5/9 (1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence) and the customer gave you a £5 note. hahahahaha... His comment shows that he did not live during the pre-decimal era. In schools, children were taught the arithmetic of the Pounds, Shillings and Pence system but in reality people in Britain don't count money in Pounds in their everyday lives; they only count in shillings and pence. It should be noted that after World War-2, there were only 3 banknotes in Britain: 10-shilling note, £1 note (20 shillings) and £5 note (100 shillings). The £10 note (200 shillings) was only re-introduced in 1964 while the £20 note (400 shillings) was re-introduced in 1970. During the pre-decimal era, prices in street markets, stores, supermarkets, department stores and even petrol stations were expressed in shillings and pence only. At Harrods or Marks & Spencer, you would see the prices of items were 67/8, 45/6, 54/10, 49/11, etc. The "Pounds, Shillings and Pence" will only show on the cash register during check out. In street markets, there were no cash registers, sellers just count and compute for change in their heads or using a pen and paper. During that time, shilling was the de facto main unit of currency while the Pound was the de facto superunit. The Pound as the de jure main unit of currency was only expressed in prices of expensive products such as TVs, refrigerators, cars, etc., in real estate properties and in big business transactions especially in international trade and commerce. If an item only costs 1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence, it would be written as 25/9 instead of £1/5/9. If the customer gave a £5 note which is equivalent to 100 shillings, the customer's change is obviously 74/3. The seller would then give the customer three £1 notes (60 shillings), one 10-shilling note, two florin coins (4 shillings) and a 3-pence coin. For the sake of that guy's curiosity on how to compute for the change if the price of an item is expressed in Pounds Shillings and Pence, here's how it works:
When it comes to giving or receiving a change, you only need to remember 20 and 12. There are 20 shillings in a Pound and there are 12 pence in a shilling.
If the price of an item costs 1 Pound and 5 shillings (£1/5/-) and the money given by the customer was £5, round-up £1 (1 becomes 2) and then subtract it from £5 (5-2=3). Subtract 5/- from 20/- (20-5=15). Therefore, the customer's change is 3 Pounds and 15 shillings (£3/15/-)
If the price of an item costs 1 Pound 5 shillings and 9 pence (£1/5/9) and the money given by the customer was £5, round-up both £1 (1 becomes 2) and 5/- (5 becomes 6). Subtract £2 from £5 (5-2=3) and subtract 6/- from 20/- (20-6=14). Subtract 9 pence from 12 pence (12-9=3). Therefore, the customer's change is 3 Pounds 14 shillings and 3 pence (£3/14/3)
From a currency similar to feet and inches (like a person's height) to a currency based on 10s and 100s. This is the reason why a lot of people in Britain find it hard to adjust when decimalisation was implemented in 1971 plus the fact that the decimalisation format used by the British government was flawed. From a very flexible denomination of 240 pence to a Pound, the British government chose a cramped 100 "new pence" to a Pound. On 15-February 1971, the shilling was devalued to 5 "new pence" (no longer 12) so that one Pound would be equivalent to 100 "new pence". Among former British colonies that transitioned to decimal currency, Ghana is the best. Ghana's decimal currency called Cedi (₵) is equivalent to 8 shillings and 4 pence (8/4) or 100 pence. Therefore, all the old pence are equally convertible to the new decimal currency. No need to worry about adjustment of prices; only the name of the currency and its denomination will change. 8/4 is ₵1.00 which means one Ghanaian Pound is equal to two Cedis and 40 pesewa (£1=₵2.40). In 1970, Bermuda Islands followed Ghana's decimalisation format. One Bermudian Pound is equal to two Bermudian Dollars and 40 cents (£1=$2.40). When South Africa decimalised the South African Pound, it converted 10 shillings (120 pence) to the new currency called Rand. 120 pence were converted to 100 cents. A little adjustment needs to be made when it comes to pricing and balancing bank accounts because 1.20 pence shall be equivalent to 1 cent. One South African Pound is equal to two South African Rands (£1=R2.00). South Africa's format of decimalisation from Pounds to the new decimalised currency was followed by Australia, New Zealand and Nigeria. Britain did the worst decimalisation format. Britain converted 20 shillings (240 pence) to 100 pence. Inflation was the result. The government of Prime Minister Harold Wilson was too afraid to lose the Pound as Britain's currency that's why he followed the advice of the Bank of England to retain the Pound. BOE and Harold Wilson did not follow the format of Ghana's new decimalised currency based on 8/4 (100 pence) nor South Africa's version of decimalised currency based on 10/- (120 pence converted to 100 cents). Instead, Britain decimalised the Pound by shrinking its value from 240 pence to 100 pence only. Some people in Britain even thought that the value of their money/income has diminished because in every shilling they spend (5 new pence) they were ripped off by the government for 7 pence. Devaluing the shilling from 12 pence to 5 pence was not a joke especially during the time when prices were still cheap. The ill-conceived decimalisation of the Pound in 1971 was one of the "ingredients" of the economic disaster of Britain during the turbulent decade of the 1970s. It may not be the main reason but it contributed to the economic crisis during that time. Maybe it's true that 10 is simpler than 12 or the decimal currency system is simpler than imperial currency system but the transition of Britain to decimal currency system in 1971 was NOT simple.
Wow, well said. Im from across the pond, and I am a avid collector of the old British silver coins, mostly the post 1919, and pre-1947, so 50% silver, and I do have some numismatic coins like the double florins of Queen Victoria, and I have studied a bit about the old L,S,D system and have found it so intriguing, and once I read that the British government reduced the pound to 100pence to the pound instead of the 240pence, I was like "man they just devalued their currency by 140pence" which they just double the currency supply, which is the reason for their financial troubles, just like here in the US when they debased our dollar in 1965, (we had to print more money to pay for wars) prior to that our money were made from silver, we were on the gold standard like most of the world, until 1971, when our president Richard Nixon took us off the gold standard ending Breton Woods, which started our financial troubles, we printed more it got us out, then it did more troubles and we printed more and added more laws to make banks, and other financial institutions to get bigger and more powerful, then there as the recession of 2008 and we printed more money, and now we have the highest inflation in 50 years; so it made me think that at this time (1965-1971) the world decided to devalue their currencies, remove precious metals from the people so they can print and create inflation to payoff debt.
I hated losing the old money. It allowed shops to get away with bigger price rises because in pre decimal days people noticed if something increased from one shilling and something to two shillings and something whereas now it’s not so noticeable.