Wigan Album

I dont think half crown was value at 12 1/2p was it. It was 3 shillings.

Half a Crown was 12 1/2p in today's money, 2/6 in the old money i.e. 20 shillings to 1 pound 8 half crowns to 1 pound.
When I was at school late 1950's, half a crown was my pocket money for a week.

Before decimal currency, Half Crown was Two Shilling and Sixpence..2s6d or 2/6. When the new currency came out in 1971, 2/6 was then valued at 12-1/2p.

Garry. Three shillings would be the equivalent of fifteen pence. twenty shillings in the old pound. Therefore one hundred new pence in today's pound. I remember going to the classroom in the museum, when it first opened in Wigan Pier. We were given small blackboards, and chalk to do calculation using the old money system. You certainly had to put your thinking cap on. twelve pennies in a shilling, two halfpennies in a penny, twenty shillings in a pound, and so on. I think I got my wrist smacked, for copying.

£s Shillings and Pence.. Feet and Inches.. Gallons Quarts and Pints...MPH none of this euro stuff for me. Incidentally, we still use MPH on our roads and Pints for ie milk..beer, we all got ripped off with decimals. In the mid 1960s a gallon of petrol, cost 5 bob=5 shillings, in todays money that's got to be around £5 tO £6 a gallon.

I recall those days they are the time the british people were well and truly "shafted ,robbed blind,because overnight we used to have 240 pennies for our pound note the next day we got 100 pennies for our 1 pound now I do not have to be Alfred Einstien to realise that in my book it's bare faced robbery and the mighty british public fell hook line and sinker. and has a previous reader has put it happened to everything feet&inches,pints &gallons all vanished carried out by the stinking blue tory party, and you see it gets worse with this euro rubbish day in day out,all I will add is we seemed a lot better off then than we are today vote UKIP GET US OUT OF EUROPE.

BOO

Decimal currency commenced in this country in February 1971 - more than 42 years ago and I still convert prices back to the old currency.
All the banks and all our Industries wanted 100 new pennies in ten shillings, so the new penny would be equivalent to 1.2 old pennies - not much of a difference. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, Tory, Anthony Barber insisted that there should be 100 new pennies in a pound, hence one new penny was equivalent to 2.4 old pennies.
Australia, New Zealand and South Africa decimalised their currency just before us and they all had 100 new pennies in ten shillings.
The new half penny had to be introduced! and was called a tiddler and would have been unnecessary as the penny would have been equivalent if the ten shilling rate had been adopted. It didn`t take long for the tiddler to be withdrawn!
Petrol and diesel prices had to be legally displayed in pence/gallon but the law was changed to pence/litre.