The message
from Chris Tolley contains these words:

Example coinage was on sale for a couple of years before it could be
spent. A plastic wallet labelled "Britain's First Decimal Coins". Anyone
could get a set.

The banks were happy to supply schools with some 1p and 2p coins ahead
of the change-over so that the children could get familiar with the new
coins. I pushed my luck with the local TSB and got hold of a tenner's
worth about a month before D-day, the next step being to invite parents
and grandparents into the classroom to share in the children's
experience. I had a *very* full classroom each morning* for a couple of
weeks - and I still had a tenner's worth of coins at the end!
[* We had to do some real sums in the afternoons!]

--
Dave,
Frodsham