A TEN BOB NOTE
January 1st is a big day in Europe as 12 countries put aside their old currencies and embark on a new era with the euro. A lot of people will be confused about prices and so on until it really sinks in.
I am reminded of that day in February 1971 when we in Britain last had a major change of currency.
Before that date we had a pound which was made up of 20 shillings each of which had 12 old pence - so 240 pence to the pound. In the run-up to decimalization there had been much debate over whether to keep the old penny and have a pound at around 42 new pence; or keep the pound and have a bigger value penny; or even to base a new pound on the old ten shilling note (50p) divide that into100 pence. As we all know, the pound was retained and the 1880s decimalization plan which started with the introduction of the newfangled 2 shilling coin or florin (10 to a pound) was completed.
As a child in the late 1950s, I watched my grandfather, who was chief booking office clerk at Glossop railway station in Derbyshire, adding up the day’s takings in a huge ledger. He would run his pencil down a long column of figures, adding up pounds, shillings, pence and farthings simultaneously, and write the answer at the bottom of the page. He never seemed to make a mistake! I remember doing those hard sums in primary school and today’s decimal money seems so much less complicated.
But whatever money you prefer, all at the Museum wish everyone a happy and prosperous New Year
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