On Tue, 27 Dec 2011 23:40:55 +0000, John Levine wrote:

We made do with pennies in 1947, and the value of a penny
then is about a dime now.

In 1947 UK, we had the farthing, this was 1/4d (a quarter penny) and was
last minted in the 1950s.

When we went decimal in the early 1970s (February 1972 if my memory
serves me correctly), the pound stayed the pound, but the smaller
denominations were changed such that there were 5 new pence to 12d or an
old shilling. The smallest decimal coin was 1/2 a new pence, worth
roughly 1.2 old pence or just under 5 old farthings, although I can't
remember if we were still using farthings then (we were certainly using
ha'penny's shortly before decimalization, I remember spending them in the
sweet shop on the way to school in the early 1970s).

Since then we've dropped the 1/2 pence coin, so our smallest coin now is
the decimal penny, worth 2.4 old pence or about 10 times the value of the
smallest denomination coin we were using in 1947.

The smallest note in general circulation now is the GBP 5.00 note, back
in 1947 I think it was the 10/- or 10 shilling note, which at
decimalization was equivalent to the 50p coin, so I guess you could say
that in the UK, now, both the smallest denomination coin and the smallest
denomination note in general circulation are fiscally worth 10 times more
than the smallest denomination coin and the smallest denomination note in
general circulation in 1947.

Rgds

Denis McMahon