By George! It’s worth a pretty penny
MEMORIES were roused when I commented on today’s inflationary petrol prices compared to when it was three gallons for a pound, with change and Green Shield Stamps, back in the Swinging 60s.
The 1970s brought decimalisation and prompted our first child when my wife Maria, secretary to an accountant, worried about the currency change and working out PAYE, and decided it would be a good time to have a baby.
Hence, we produced our elder daughter Siobhan who, in the spirit of the period, could have been called Che Guevara Kilcommons, if she had been a boy. Wasn’t she lucky she was a girl?
Decimalisation didn’t provoke too many problems with money in 1971, although the change in 1999 that replaced gallons with litres and pounds and ounces with kilograms caused my mother no end of anguish when attempting to buy a quarter of boiled ham for tea.
Rare coins that faded into oblivion 51 years ago can, however, be worth more today than they ever were then.
A 1917 George V penny is worth £1,260, a 1900 Victorian penny is £353, and a silver threepence coin from 1945 is valued at £50,000.
What is sad is the history we lost when the coins went out of circulation.
The penny dates back to the King of Mercia in 785, although his version was silver. The thruppeny bit dates from the 16th century and was also originally in silver.
The sixpence was first minted by Edward VI in 1551 and a shilling dates back to Henry VII in the same century, while the half crown dates from 1549.
The florin, or two shilling piece, was more modern and first circulated in 1849.
The romance and heritage of our lost coinage is gone but the nostalgia is still available by buying a mixed bag of 50 pre-decimalisation coins from ebay for just £12.
Think of the memories and, who knows, you might find a George V penny from 1933 worth at least £72,000. Although, probably not.