On Jan 1, 5:24*pm, "Martin Rich" wrote:
"Peter T. Daniels" wrote in ...

In 1965, when silver coins were replaced by clad coins, the old ones
weren't recalled or demonetized or anything; the ones that weren't in
the collectors pool were simply retired as they were deposited in
banks, presumably to eventually be melted down for whatever else
silver was used for.

As mentioned elsewhere in the thread, when the UK went decimal in 1971 the
former one shilling and two shilling coins remained unchanged, apart from
the details of the design, but became 5p and 10p coins. *So a lot of coins
with 'one shilling' or 'two shilling' inscriptions remained in circulation
until the new, smaller, 5p and 10p coins were introduced in the early 1990s.
But in later years the oldest shilling or two shilling coins in widespread
circulation were from 1947, because the older coins had a higher silver
content and thus would have significant scrap value

Well, we haven't had a currency change since the Jefferson
administration (1801-1809), when decimal currency replaced pounds and
thalers and pesos.