General Chat

Don’t anyone start on the building industry as they can’t make their minds up. They will ask for a bit of wood as a bit of 2’ by 4’ 8mm thick.

My first job was picking blackcurrents at Lyons Hall Farm in Essex.
The fruit was weighed in lbs and we were paid in cash ( no paperwork) per lb picked. I made around £ 2 for 8 hours work - 5 shillings /hr - once I got up to speed. The fruit all went to Tiptree.

My very first 'wage' as a youngster consisted of two half-crowns.

You mean that jar of coins I've had stashed away isn't going to be any good now after brexit....I'd dusted them off and everything...

Sheesh! I did say that I was only joking :-P

The change in currency from £sd to £p ( Feb 1971) had nothing to do with the Common Market/EU as the change happened before the UK joined. The change was several years in the planning and was driven by the costs and complexities for large firms of running £sd on computers . Instead they had the joy of dealing with the now forgotten half p and running both systems in parallel.

As I recall the coins were 1/2 1 2 5 10 50 ; the 20p came later and the 50p was much bigger than now. I think the 10p has shrunk too. The £1 and £2 coins came much later.

There is not the slightest chance of the UK reverting back to the £ s d currency. In any case cash is rapidly running out of favour and a lot of people rarely use it preferring electronic transactions. That is why ATMs are disappearing.

Metrification started way back in the C19 with the introduction of the 2s coin "florin". It went on by fits and starts mainly in high tech engineering such as aircraft mfg. It became official govt policy in 1968 by which time a great deal of work had already been done and many firms were working in decimal. Retail remained something of a hold out even after the UK joined the EU which mandates the metric system. The main opt outs are road signs, speed limits and pints for draught beer.

Again there is not the faintest chance of the UK reverting to the pre metric system.

For those whose brexit vote was based on hopes of an end to the metric system, a return to £ s d, and other totems there is only disappointment in store.

I still weigh in ounces when cooking, all the old recipe books ;-) I still measure in feet and inches if I don't need to be exact, eg my hand span is about 8 and a half inches, nine at a stretch :-)

Of course I was jesting :-D

I would hate to go back to the old Imperial weights and measures, etc..

Funnily enough, here in Australia, despite the decimal system, draught beer is still sold in the old measurements of glasses, midis, ponies and the like :-S

In the last few years pints have come into vogue, but again only for beer :-D :-D

Allan, of course you jest.

The decimal system makes calculation much easier and, anyway, those who remember £ s d and imperial measurements are getting older and greyer and who would like to try to teach the majority of the population the old systems - night school for all those middle-aged and younger, let alone the nation's educators, many of whom will have to begin from scratch themselves. :-0 :-S

I thought the 50p joke was very clever Allan, except that strictly speaking Remainers presumably want us to remain in this Brexit-in-Name-Only state, where we are subject to EU rules but have no say in them. The rest of the country are either Rejoiners or Rejoicers.

As far as decimal currency goes, I think it started in Asia. Anyway we had it a couple of years before joining the EEC. I liked it when you could actually buy things for one (old) penny and a half crown seemed like a small fortune.

I still think in old measurements Allan :-D :-D :-D I still use the old terms for money like some folk are sixpence short of a shilling :-D :-D :-D

:-D :-D :-DLG

Would that be 'old pence'?

I making an assumption here that the UK will now abandon all things European, including the decimal system ;-) :-D :-D

The penny just don't drop with some Allan ;-)

My comment about the fifty pence piece was a joke, for those of you who like puns.:-D :-D

It was not intended to be taken seriously. :-(

In fact I started this thread purely as a light-hearted rhetorical question ;-)

All our tomorrows

https://tinyurl.com/r574vlf

Apology accepted Kense Thank You

I apologise for causing any offence That was not my intention.

I was trying to point out the comparison of paying out a large amount to get something that is currently not worth as much,

I understand that the total cost of Brexit now exceeds all the contributions we have made to the EU since it was formed.

Kense we voted to leave so I find your comment very insulting. I am certainly not stupid and I am entitled to my opinion which some folk on here mentioning no names think I should not have

I would think those paying that much for the coins are either legitimate coin collectors or people who think they will increase in value.

Kense just because people voted the way they thought was right i.e. for Brexit does not make them stupid. There is rather too much of this on the net at the moment.

(Oh for the record I thin I have said I didn't vote for brexit.)

That's the way Brexiters are.