Sir, – David Denby (Letters, February 15th) describes the difficult role of the bus conductors in the UK when decimalisation was introduced 50 years ago.
This was summed up in a jingle used in an advertising campaign for the buses in this country.
I will always remember the catchy refrain, “Give us a bob or two, and we’ll give the right change to you-ooh-ooh”. – Yours, etc,
BERNADETTE
O’REILLY,
Clonakilty,
Co Cork.
A chara, – Brian Hutton's article "How decimals put an end to the crown in Ireland" (News, February 15th) brought back memories of the excitement of changing to decimal currency in 1971.
You mention farthings and crowns as among those coins we said goodbye to, but farthings had already been withdrawn in 1960, and crowns were rarely used by 1971, unlike half-crowns (12.5 pence), which you did not mention.
As a teenager at the time I felt quite well-off if I had a half-crown in my pocket. – Is mise,
JOE McLAUGHLIN,
Bonnyrigg,
Midlothian,
Scotland.
Sir, – Of the six coins listed in your article as old money, three weren’t in circulation in 1971; the farthing, crown and guinea, were in practice all obsolete by then. In general usage but not listed were the threepence, the sixpence, the two-shilling and the half-crown coins.
The 10-shilling coin also featured (briefly) and a 10-shilling note.
To further complicate daily life, sterling equivalents of the above were in general circulation, making, I estimate, 14 coins in total.
It would take about 1,000 old pence (which would weigh 9kg), to buy a pint of beer at today’s prices. – Yours, etc,
LIAM PLUCK,
Enniskerry,
Co Wicklow.
Sir, – The change to decimal currency was widely believed by shoppers to have facilitated price increases. But there was one happy side-effect. Before decimalisation was introduced schoolchildren were subjected to “sums” which involved converting, say, £5, 11 shillings and sixpence to pennies or indeed half-pennies. They might then be asked to convert 5,000 halfpennies to pounds, shillings and pence. I wouldn’t know where to begin now.
I remember a street trader from Dublin’s Moore Street interviewed in a vox-pop interview for RTÉ lunchtime news on the first day of the change. Asked how it was going, she said she wasn’t at all happy about it, and that, “They shouldn’t be interfering with the will of God.” – Yours, etc,
GEMMA
McCROHAN,
Dublin 16.
A chara, – The 50th anniversary of the introduction of decimalisation reminded me of what must be the most unintentionally funny response to a question that I ever heard.
A week or so after the big day, I was either reading a newspaper report or listening to a radio report which asked people from around the country how they were managing the new currency.
An old lady from Cork, in her reply, said, “You’d think they could have waited till all the old people died off before they introduced it.” – Is mise,
BARRY HAMILTON,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
Sir, – I well remember decimalisation, though I was only in second class.
I vividly recall the old six pence equals 2½ new pence equation and can still see in my mind the cardboard cut-outs we got of the new coins.
It’s no wonder I have no money. If you wanted someone to become a carpenter you wouldn’t give him a cardboard hammer. – Yours, etc,
JOHN WILLIAMS,
Clonmel,
Co Tipperary.