Random thoughts

[vyvyanx]

I was lying in bed this morning thinking about UK currency, and how much it has changed since I was a child, both in appearance and value of individual coins. I think only 1p and 2p pieces have remained the same during my lifetime. The replacement of old 5p and 10p pieces seemed particularly sad - I used to like the fact that pre-decimalisation shilling and 2-shilling pieces still did duty as 5p and 10p; some of them had been minted many decades earlier (occasionally you could find one with the King's head on!) but were still in circulation in the 80s.

Anyway, in light of that, a random poll:

[Poll #358643]

Comments

[zotz]

. . . although with the lower (copper) denominations it would depend on whether I was in a hurry.

[senji.livejournal.com]

Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_coinage) agrees with you...

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

I might be mistaken but I think I had a 50p coin that said "10 Shillings" on it when I was in the UK in '87. I have no idea if it's still somewhere at home or if I spent it there and then.

[3c66b.livejournal.com]

(coin pedantry) In fact even the 1 penny and 2 pence coins have changed in your lifetime -- they used to say `2 new pence' etc, now they say `two pence'. So the last vestiges of the old currency are being erased, as the `new pence' versions go out of circulation...

I'm pretty sure there was never a UK 10-shilling coin. The highest denomination in circulation pre-decimalization was the crown (=25 p).

[nmg.livejournal.com]

Yes, there was no ten shilling coin - there was a ten bob note instead.

[karohemd.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the clarification.
As I said, this was 17 years ago. It could have been a 10p coin with "2 shillings" on it.

[fanf]

They have also changed composition from non-magnetic to magnetic.

[simont]

I'm not sure I'd pick up any of them; I don't generally find myself short of money, so I might just leave it there for someone who needed it more than me.

If I saw a spare five minutes lying in the street, on the other hand, I'd be down there grubbing in the gutter like a shot...

(LJ allowed me to press Submit without ticking any boxes, and is now showing me the poll results, but doesn't list me in the detailed answers page. *shrug*)

[vyvyan.livejournal.com]

Ah, I'm sorry. I realised too late that I should have included a "none of them" option as well.

[atreic.livejournal.com]

I'm slightly superstitious (or rather, I'm not superstitious, because I don't believe in any of it, but am amused by being able to remember odd little rituals that don't put me out of my way) and so always go with "find a penny pick it up and all day long you'll have good luck". Therefor I would probably pick up the first coin of low denominations I saw that day. If I wasn't in a hurry, or somewhere so busy it would be doom.

Penny Rhyme

[eviltwinemma.livejournal.com]

My mum says that!

[conflux.livejournal.com]

Yes this is my reason too, it is supposed to be lucky. Mind you the logical bit of my brain points out that it is only lucky because I think it is and that changes my perception of the days events.