A 50p Piece of History !

Can't believe that today is the 50th Anniversary of the 50 Pence Piece , which entered our circulation on October 14th 1969 , replacing the ten shilling note . Back then of course , the seven sided coin bought a lot more than it does today , with analysts stating that it would have bought you five pints of beer fifty years ago . In 1969 , 50 pence had the same buying power as 8.29p today , with subsequent inflation rubbing off much of its early shine .

And in another 50 will we still have cash at all?
Talk of a cashless society in a lot less time than that.

Very true about cashless society. The only regular cash I pay out is to the window cleaner and the chap I pay to cut my grass during the summer months. It occurred to me... do car park machines take card payment? I never use them so am out of touch.

Anne, The galleries take cards,

Hard to believe. Never realized it was so long ago.

I loved having a pocket full of halfpennies, pennies, threepenny bits etc. Couldn't be doing with all that shrapnel now though.

There was some different coins back then

Hapeney
penny
Tuppence
Threpney bit
Tanner
Shillin
Two bob coin
Hafe crown

To me there was no better looking note in size and colour than the old 10/- and l was sad to see it go.It was my spending money when I first started work.The 50p now comes in all sorts of different types which people like to collect.The grandchildren love them.

terryw
i find that having loose change in my pocket is a little bit irritating.,i changed twenty pounds in coins the other day at a shop near us .in 1969 it would have been a small fortune to be carrying round.
wigan rover if you could buy five pints with 50p ,someone has got their sums wrong with the inflation rate. trying to buy five pints in a pub these days for £8.29p.

In 1979 in all pubs in and around Wigan, you could buy a round of three pints


Lager (me)
Bitter
Mild

And have change out of a quid

When did silver threepenny coins disappear?

"Silver" Threepence

The silver three pence coin (expressed in writing as "3d") first appeared in England during the reign of King Edward VI (1547–1553). But it was unpopular as many preferred the four pence piece (known as a "groat") and there were times when it was not minted. During the reign of king George V (1910–1936) the silver content was reduced from sterling silver to a mixture of silver (50%),copper, and nickel and the design was completely changed in 1927 to three oak sprigs with three acorns and a "G" in the centre. By the end of George V's reign the threepence had become somewhat unpopular in England because of its small size, but it remained popular in Scotland. It may be that the custom of putting threepence coins (wrapped in greaseproof paper) into Christmas cakes may have contributed to its continued popularity! A nickel-brass threepence took over the bulk of the production of the denomination, being produced in all years between 1937 and 1952 except 1947. Only small numbers were produced

http://www.rampantscotland.com/know/blknow_pre_decimal.htm

And don't forget the Farthing ( four to a penny ) which ceased to be legal tender in January 1961