What with all the hooha in Italy (protesters wanting to get rid of a powerful ruling figure) and the Middle East (ditto) I missed an important anniversary: 40 years since the decimalisation of the British currency under the insane Eurofanatic Edward Heath.
I have had both worlds, for better or worse. On Decimal Day I had already passed Maths A level so it wasn't too bad. I felt sorry for the old, who discovered a shilling was now 5 pence (as opposed to 5d which was a little more than 2 pence).
We had decimals, of course. I remember at school that a farthing was .001 and 1/24th of a pound, so if you had 13 farthings it was rounded up to £0 .014. Happy days, but the new currency was not to be worth very much for very long.
Hear the wise words of Jonathan Pearce: 'I would settle for any coinage system so long as it retained its value.
What killed respect and affection for money was not the decimalisation mania of the late, unlamented Sir Edward Heath. It was inflation.'
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