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Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 17th, 2019, 6:28 pm
by marronier
The farthing was withdrawn 60 years ago in 1959. At the time ,it had the purchasing power equivalent to 5p today. The powers that be are still turning out 1p,2p ,5p coins.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 17th, 2019, 7:34 pm
by swill453
marronier wrote:The farthing was withdrawn 60 years ago in 1959. At the time ,it had the purchasing power equivalent to 5p today. The powers that be are still turning out 1p,2p ,5p coins.

We've just become ridiculously sentimental. Propose abolishing copper coins (a very sensible move IMO) and there would be protest marches and shrieking tabloid headlines.

Scott.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 17th, 2019, 8:27 pm
by scotia
By the early fifties the use of the farthing was, in my experience, uncommon, although the ha'penny (halfpenny) was in everyday use. But I remember clearly the farthing's beautiful image of a Wren, however I had to look up (on Google) the ha'penny to remind me of its decoration - a sailing galleon.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 17th, 2019, 10:35 pm
by UncleEbenezer
Now that most money is electronic, you can have amounts for which no coin exists.

For example, when something is priced by weight. Your smallest coin might be 5p, but you could still pay £1.23 for your weighed fruit.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 8:19 am
by redsturgeon
UncleEbenezer wrote:Now that most money is electronic, you can have amounts for which no coin exists.

For example, when something is priced by weight. Your smallest coin might be 5p, but you could still pay £1.23 for your weighed fruit.


The last time I looked 1p and 2p coins were still available!

John

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 8:26 am
by swill453
redsturgeon wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:Now that most money is electronic, you can have amounts for which no coin exists.

For example, when something is priced by weight. Your smallest coin might be 5p, but you could still pay £1.23 for your weighed fruit.


The last time I looked 1p and 2p coins were still available!

John

Ah, but can you buy a litre of petrol with cash, at £1.29.9?

Scott.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 8:28 am
by redsturgeon
swill453 wrote:
redsturgeon wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:Now that most money is electronic, you can have amounts for which no coin exists.

For example, when something is priced by weight. Your smallest coin might be 5p, but you could still pay £1.23 for your weighed fruit.


The last time I looked 1p and 2p coins were still available!

John

Ah, but can you buy a litre of petrol with cash, at £1.29.9?

Scott.


AFAIK the digital pump meter only displays whole pennies.

John

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 9:10 am
by UncleEbenezer
redsturgeon wrote:
UncleEbenezer wrote:Now that most money is electronic, you can have amounts for which no coin exists.

For example, when something is priced by weight. Your smallest coin might be 5p, but you could still pay £1.23 for your weighed fruit.


The last time I looked 1p and 2p coins were still available!

John

I was, of course, merely expressing in £ a situation that prevails in other currencies where the lowest physical coin has a denomination higher than one.

For example, Scandinavian currencies.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 10:25 am
by gvonge
swill453 wrote:
marronier wrote:there would be protest marches and shrieking tabloid headlines.


Don't we get these anyway?

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 11:25 am
by XFool
'Bring back the 10 Bob note!' ;)

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 1:31 pm
by brightncheerful
To me, the dollar has always been 5 bob (5/-)

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 2:00 pm
by sg31
I was born in 1955 and I remember the farthing. 4 Black Jacks for a farthing was a must buy for me. I was gutted when the farthing went and it became 4 for a ha'penny. Daylight robbery, it should have been 8.

It wasn't long before it became 4 for a penny but by that time my parents had a shop so I didn't have to buy them.

I've no idea why it bothered me so much, I was only 4 and it's not like I was having to earn the money. I think that was the first time I realised the world wasn't fair. I can still remember feeling the anger at the irrationality 60 years later.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 2:51 pm
by brightncheerful
Until today*, I thought a groat (aka Joey) was a silver thruppenny bit or - if you prefer - threepenny bit.
It was 4d.

However, threepenny bits used to be silver before the brass threepenny bit took over.


* No Wikipedia in the old days.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 4:55 pm
by Rhyd6
I have a Macintosh's Toffee tin which is full to the gunnels of silver threepenny joeys. My father collected them, and I've just hung onto them. I remember going to the shop with a farthing and a coupon to buy sweets. Aunty Em's sweet shop, a paradise as far as we kids were concerned. She must have been a very patient woman because we all took ages to spend our few coppers.

R6

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 5:17 pm
by bungeejumper
Rhyd6 wrote:Aunty Em's sweet shop, a paradise as far as we kids were concerned. She must have been a very patient woman because we all took ages to spend our few coppers.

About the time I gave up teaching in 1979, our little charges were being wonderfully cared for by the lovely lady who ran the sweet shop next door. Brenda would go to any lengths to supply them with a pennyworth of blackjacks or half a bag of space dust, and she was much loved by everybody. Proper old-fashioned stuff, and exactly the way I remember the sweet shops of my 1950s youth where we would agonise over a farthing's worth of bubble gum or maybe half a tube of Love Hearts. Or a frozen Jubbly. (Anybody remember those?)

It was only after I'd left town that they found that Brenda had also been selling them cigarettes in twos and threes, and sometimes on tick. Much as her kind had been doing since long before the first World War. Whoops.

BJ

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 6:42 pm
by stevensfo
swill453 wrote:
marronier wrote:The farthing was withdrawn 60 years ago in 1959. At the time ,it had the purchasing power equivalent to 5p today. The powers that be are still turning out 1p,2p ,5p coins.

We've just become ridiculously sentimental. Propose abolishing copper coins (a very sensible move IMO) and there would be protest marches and shrieking tabloid headlines.

Scott.


I believe that 'shrieking' is now a prerequisite for all tabloids, with a non-shrieking break for lunch and another for when the owner is back in their foreign residence unable to sack anyone over non-Brexit headlines. Any further shrieking required is supplied by appropriate soaps designed to exhaust the shrieker-lovers so they go to bed early before the grown-up programmes start.

Steve

Cynical...moi? :-)

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 18th, 2019, 10:04 pm
by scotia
brightncheerful wrote:However, threepenny bits used to be silver before the brass threepenny bit took over.

Silver threepenny bits were hoarded to put in the Christmas pudding. I don't know how many were swallowed by the kids, but, being a noble metal, they were ultimately returned unaffected.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 19th, 2019, 9:31 am
by brightncheerful
I believe that 'shrieking' is now a prerequisite for all tabloids, with a non-shrieking break for lunch and another for when the owner is back in their foreign residence unable to sack anyone over non-Brexit headlines. Any further shrieking required is supplied by appropriate soaps designed to exhaust the shrieker-lovers so they go to bed early before the grown-up programmes start.
Steve


Last week in a sports hall devoted to the noble art of playing of badminton, a group of young women, age range teen to adult, were shrieking. Yours truly, obliged to have my preference for quiet shattered, concluded that the shrieking represented remnants of the Donny Osmond fan club.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 19th, 2019, 9:42 am
by sg31
bungeejumper wrote:About the time I gave up teaching in 1979, our little charges were being wonderfully cared for by the lovely lady who ran the sweet shop next door. Brenda would go to any lengths to supply them with a pennyworth of blackjacks or half a bag of space dust, and she was much loved by everybody. Proper old-fashioned stuff, and exactly the way I remember the sweet shops of my 1950s youth where we would agonise over a farthing's worth of bubble gum or maybe half a tube of Love Hearts. Or a frozen Jubbly. (Anybody remember those?)

It was only after I'd left town that they found that Brenda had also been selling them cigarettes in twos and threes, and sometimes on tick. Much as her kind had been doing since long before the first World War. Whoops.

BJ


I liked frozen Jubbly, we sold them in our shop and they always seemen much better value than lollies. Lasted a lot longer as well because you had to suck them, if you tried to bite them you would barely make an impression.

Still available in supermarkets in unfrozen multipacks but they seem much smaller, although that might be because everything seems bigger whem you are a small child.

Re: Office Conversation of the Day

Posted: March 19th, 2019, 9:45 am
by AleisterCrowley
they always seemen much better value than lollies

Ewww.. the secret ingredient?