MIG wrote:
sweller wrote:

Peter Masson wrote:

Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
had holes in my trouser pockets.

In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
(can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.

I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
meters that would have had to be replaced. Decimalisation was in 1971,
but 5p and 10p were minted from 1968 and 50p from 1969 (hence the 1970
2s being odd) and 1s and 2s stayed in circulation as 5p and 10p of
course.

But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
upon any older than about 1950, but still...

Robin

I did once find a 1938 2s in my change, but I think that the reason
why you hardly ever saw any dated before 1947 was that that was the
first year when there wasn't any silver content.

"R.C. Payne" wrote

But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
upon any older than about 1950, but still...

Until the 1960s it was not that unusual to get 19th century coins - with
Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally silver coins.
Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to 1816 were legal
tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III, George IV, or William
III examples. There were also occasional press stories of silver groats
(4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being mistaken for silver 3d or
sixpences.

Peter

In article , peter.masson1
@privacy.net says...

"R.C. Payne" wrote

But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
upon any older than about 1950, but still...

Until the 1960s it was not that unusual to get 19th century coins - with
Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally silver coins.
Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to 1816 were legal
tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III, George IV, or William
III examples. There were also occasional press stories of silver groats
(4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being mistaken for silver 3d or
sixpences.

Peter




In the early sixties on a number 9 bus going to the Albert Hall a
passenger offered a coin to the conductor to pay her fare. The
conductor didn't like the look of it but I managed to catch sight of it
and exchanged it for another shilling. It was a rather clapped-out
George IV one from 1820. This was the oldest legal tender coin I've
ever seen in circulation.

Slightly off-topic, in earlier days I was an avid coin collector and
whilst doing National Service bought an Edward I penny by post from
Seaby's. This was a silver coin similar in size to a sixpence. I had
it in my shirt pocket when visiting a fair with my then lady love. We
went on a dodgem and I put some change from this in the same pocket.
The girl concerned wanted another turn so we sat in the dodgem and I
paid again. Back at camp I went to look at the newly arrived penny and
discoverd I only had a modern sixpence there. I often wonder what the
fairground bloke thought about the coin I'd given him!

"Jim Brittin" [wake up to reply] wrote in
message m...

In the early sixties on a number 9 bus going to the Albert Hall a
passenger offered a coin to the conductor to pay her fare. The
conductor didn't like the look of it but I managed to catch sight of it
and exchanged it for another shilling. It was a rather clapped-out
George IV one from 1820. This was the oldest legal tender coin I've
ever seen in circulation.

Something similar happened to me on the Midland Metro. A woman was trying to
pay with a 2-pound coin from the 1980s, but the condutor rejected it. I also
offered current coins in exchange for that one.

"Peter Masson" wrote in message
...

"R.C. Payne" wrote

Until the 1960s it was not that unusual to get 19th century coins - with
Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally silver
coins.
Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to 1816 were legal
tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III, George IV, or William
III examples. There were also occasional press stories of silver groats
(4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being mistaken for silver 3d or
sixpences.

I think that this still happens today, though clearly not to the same
degree.

I got a shilling back in my change on one occasion, while on the other I got
a 2d coin from the Free State of Ireland.

A few years ago, when I visited Canada, I found a 1-cent coin with George
VI.

I also occasionally find coins from Crown Dependencies, such as Gibraltar or
the Isle of Man. Friends of mine have even found coins in their change from
as far as St. Helena and the Falkland Islands.

On Sat, 14 Jun 2008, wrote:

"Peter Masson" wrote in message
...

"R.C. Payne" wrote

Until the 1960s it was not that unusual to get 19th century coins -
with Queen Victoria's head - usually pennies but very occasionally
silver coins. Until the new small 5p came in shillings dating back to
1816 were legal tender, though I don't think I ever saw George III,
George IV, or William III examples. There were also occasional press
stories of silver groats (4d - not Maundy examples) surfacing, being
mistaken for silver 3d or sixpences.

I think that this still happens today, though clearly not to the same
degree.

I got a shilling back in my change on one occasion, while on the other I got
a 2d coin from the Free State of Ireland.

A few years ago, when I visited Canada, I found a 1-cent coin with George
VI.

I also occasionally find coins from Crown Dependencies, such as
Gibraltar or the Isle of Man. Friends of mine have even found coins in
their change from as far as St. Helena and the Falkland Islands.

I have a bag in which i've been accumulating interesting coins for 15-20
years (ever since i had coins, basically!). It's mostly the special
designs of UK pounds, two pounds and 50ps, plus various coins from the
channel islands, Man and Gibraltar. The most interesting things are a St
Helena & Ascension pound, which is a fairly dull design with some birds on
it, a 1985 five shilling from Kenya, which looks enough like a 50p that i
didn't notice it in my handful of change, although it's a little heavier,
and the scowling visage of Daniel Arap Moi is hard to confuse with the
scowling visage of our own dear queen, and a 1996 Swazi one lilangeni,
similar in shape and material to a pound, which i - ObRailway - got in
change from a ticket machine at Paddington!

tom

--
Demolish serious culture!

"Tom Anderson" wrote in message
h.li...
On Sat, 14 Jun 2008, wrote:

I have a bag in which i've been accumulating interesting coins for 15-20
years (ever since i had coins, basically!). It's mostly the special
designs of UK pounds, two pounds and 50ps, plus various coins from the
channel islands, Man and Gibraltar.

I have noticed lately that there appear to be much less coins 1- and 2-pound
coins, plus 50-pence coins with special reverses in circulation. Is it
becoming a trend for the general public to hoard these coins?

The most interesting things are a St Helena & Ascension pound, which is a
fairly dull design with some birds on it,

I rather liked that design.

In article , ()
wrote:

I have noticed lately that there appear to be much less coins 1-
and 2-pound coins, plus 50-pence coins with special reverses in
circulation. Is it becoming a trend for the general public to hoard
these coins?

Since all £1 coin reverses are "special" I'm not sure what you mean
there.

--
Colin Rosenstiel

On Sun, 15 Jun 2008, Colin Rosenstiel wrote:

In article , ()
wrote:

I have noticed lately that there appear to be much less coins 1-
and 2-pound coins, plus 50-pence coins with special reverses in
circulation. Is it becoming a trend for the general public to hoard
these coins?

Since all £1 coin reverses are "special" I'm not sure what you mean
there.

Some are more special than others!

Have a butcher's:

http://www.ukcoinpics.co.uk/dec1p.html

IME, the 1983 etc all-UK reverse is far and away the most common one to
come across. The mid-80s Scottish and Welsh are level-pegging in second
place. The NI flax flower design is rarer, as is the English royal oak.
The 1988 UK is really quite unusual to see. The mid-90s national designs
and the bridges are now also pretty common - about the same as the 80s
Scottish and Welsh, i'd say. I have yet to see one of the new pounds in
the wild .

The 1983 etc UK is sort of a 'standard' design, making all the others
'special', but it's really the rarer ones that i'd consider special enough
to describe as special.

tom

--
That must be one of the best things you can possibly do with a piglet,
booze and a cannon. -- D

On Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:33:01 +0100, "R.C. Payne"
wrote:

MIG wrote:
sweller wrote:

Peter Masson wrote:

Weren't the coins enormous? The two shillings is the same diameter as
the current #2 coin, while both the penny and the half-crown are larger.
I found a tin with a load of old coins in - by old, I mean post 1971 -
and I was surprised at the size of the 50p and 10p. No wonder I always
had holes in my trouser pockets.

In a way it's a shame that the 5p shrank in 1990 and 10p in 1992
(can't remember when the 50p shrank). Before that you used to get
loads of funny old coins still in circulation after a very long time.

I understood that the reason why 5p and 10p were made exactly the same
size and weight as 1s and 2s was because so many people had slot
meters that would have had to be replaced. Decimalisation was in 1971,
but 5p and 10p were minted from 1968 and 50p from 1969 (hence the 1970
2s being odd) and 1s and 2s stayed in circulation as 5p and 10p of
course.

But given that 1/- is exactly one twentieth of a pound, and 2/- is
exactly a tenth, it makes sense that the replacement coin for the same
value, ie 5p and 10p be essentially the same coin, and by extention,
that the old coins remain in circulation. I certainly enjoyed getting
change with a king's rather than queen's head on it. I never happened
upon any older than about 1950, but still...

By the time decimalisation arrived much of the "silver" which really
was silver (50% to 1946, sterling silver to 1919) had disappeared into
back-street smelters due to the metal value exceeding the face value
of the coins. The same happened later to some extent with pennies and
halfpennies and later with decimal bronze coins (which are now plated
steel).

I did once find a 1938 2s in my change, but I think that the reason
why you hardly ever saw any dated before 1947 was that that was the
first year when there wasn't any silver content.