If you're around my age, you'll no doubt remember L.s.d. from back in the 1960s. No, not the hallucinogenic drug of which hippies were reputed to be so fond, but Britain's system of currency (pounds, shillings and pence, from the Latin, 'librae, solidi, denari') before decimalisation was officially introduced in 1971. (Although usually pronounced and written as 'L.s.d.', apparently the proper way to render it is '£sd'.)
What most of us tend to forget however, is that two years before 'D-Day', some decimal coins were introduced into our £sd currency. In 1968, the five, ten, and fifty 'new' pence coins were issued, mingling quite happily with the threepenny (pronounced thruppenny) bit, sixpences, shillings and florins (two shilling piece), until the new decimal system officially took over. The old sixpence (tanner) continued in circulation until 1980, and shillings and florins were interchangeable with their counterparts for many years after, until the size of the new coins was reduced in the early '90s.
When I bought the above set around twenty years ago, I was amazed by how many of my pals claimed to remember it, saying that they were given one of these little blue plastic wallets at school. They can't all be mistaken, so I can only assume that I was off the day they were handed out because I definitely never received one. I didn't even know they existed until I saw them in a coin catalogue back in the early '90s.
So, if you were one of the lucky ones who received a decimal coin set as a child, enjoy this look back at a moment in time which I never got to share - and then feel free to reminiscence about it in the ever-lovin' comments section.
This reminds me of a biscuit they sold in school.
ReplyDeleteIt was a wafer type effort,may have been slightly chocolate filled,about 2.5 inches by 3.5 inches,oops, about
6 cm by 9 cm.
It may have cost 2p.
No idea what it was called.
It was an instant memory as I looked at that decimal coin case.
I don't remember receiving a set though,or do I?
hhmmmmmmmmm.
Like so many things from yesteryear, that biscuit sounds vaguely familiar - but I can't quite place it. If I actually saw it however, I would know right away whether I remembered it or not.
ReplyDeleteI can confirm that at my School (Calderwood Primary in Rutherglen) we got a set of the then new decimal coinage - not that most of us kept it that long. That wafer rings a bell and I've tried to get the name of it for years now (to no avail I'm afraid pals seem to remember it but that's all) I remember it being in a maroon and blue wrapper and it was about 2d and Royal Scots were 2 for 1d (a chocolate digestive for the rich kids was 2d each ) and I also remember bags of nuts that I never saw outside of school. McScotty
ReplyDeleteI remember long, thin bags of nuts by KP - could that be the ones?
ReplyDeleteThat's them Kid, long thin bags of nuts I didn't know they were KP (just that the package was different to the norm)I also remember getting Bandit biscuits now and then at school (not sure if that's the wafer Im thinking off??) - McScotty
ReplyDeleteBandit sounds familiar. That might've been them, but I'm not 100% sure.
ReplyDeleteI can remember the tag-line for Bandit was "You can stand it with Bandit..."
ReplyDelete...stand what exactly, I can't remember...
I remember that as well, said with a Mexican accent I think. "You can stand eet with a Bandeet!" Or am I just imagining that part?
ReplyDeleteThe advert was in a Mexican accent that would have probably made Sergio Aragaone cry the words were (seemingly) - "You can stand it with Bandit — Get your head off the floor - Great big bar Bandit is as big as a door!" Don;t recall lines 2 and 3 - McScotty
ReplyDeleteAs someone once said - they just don't write 'em like that any more.
ReplyDelete