Money changes everything

[andyyyyyy]

This isn't exactly news, the process was first started in 2005, but I haven't seen it being widely reported since I first learnt of it a few months ago.

Fellow Britons, it is time for a change. A change in our change. And lo, our change is changing.

From the Royal mint:

For the first time since decimalisation, the legal tender coins of the

Comments

[alphabetzoo]

I think there should be a new currency introduced for the UK which will be a parallel currency south of Watford gap and the only legal tender northwards of there. It could be called the 'Crown' and could be a credit-based rather than debt-based currency. When the pound and other major western currencies crash, citizens living south of watford gap who have chosen to stick with pounds could be allowed to transfer to Crowns subject to a 100% property and wealth tax. (For bankers this would be a 200% tax and they will be offered jobs in the contruction industry to pay their debts) :-)

(Australia still has coins that are similar in size to our old ones and these always seems ridiculously large)

[shamess_the_elf]

Re: S'only money.

[andyyyyyy]

Don't think I've seen it. It's not ringing any bells.

[shamess_the_elf]

Re: S'only money.

[andyyyyyy]

Haven't seen it. Looks like an interesting story. Wonder if it's available as a torrent...

[latestarter]

...will undergo a major design change.

That would be the Euro then?

I have to admit to being around when decimalisation came in. Even back then, we were a little surprised that the old sixpenny bit (worth 2 1/2p and a neat and small silver coin), was in effect replaced by the ginormous two-pence piece. I'd have hoped this new makeover would finally see the back of that oversized object, but from what you've said it looks like it will stay around a while longer.

[andyyyyyy]

That would be the Euro then?

Well I doubt we'll be going for 'Euro designs' but then it may be a good way of saying 'look, we changed our coins and the world didn't end' if the Euro ever does happen.

The 2p is a bit ridiculous, especially as it's almost worthless. I can't imagine it'll be long before the 1p and 2p disappear like the 1/2p before them. The problem they have is that such a move is inflationary (prices go up, not down, when rounding things to the nearest 5p) so they have to wait until such a time that the inflationary effect is more insignificant than the cost to the economy of striking the coins all the time.

[shamess_the_elf]

[andyyyyyy]

They got rid of the 1/2p because it wasn't worth enough to bother making it. Before decimalisation there were 'farthings' which were worth 1/4 of an old penny (approximately 1/10 of a new penny) and they were still useful and used right up to 1960. Over time the 1p and the 2p will cease to be useful and they will disappear too. It'll be a while yet though.

[mdb_uk]

Am I underestimating this change? Do we not have new designs on coins (especially 50p coins) all the time? Or are you referring to a withdrawal of existing coinage so that they can be replaced with the new stuff?

[andyyyyyy]

Yeah, they do special editions of the 50p and the £2 every year in limited numbers to commemorate historical events and the £1 has always had rotating designs for each of the four countries in the UK (even with the bridges there's one from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) but each coin also has a base design, seen here in lovely gold:

[the23]

i must say £1 and £2 coins are preferable to dollar bills, but then again i try to get my hands on the royal bank of scotland's on epound notes whenever i can cos pound notes allow me a warm nostalgic glow. i quite like varying designs, am in favour of odd shaped ones and think the change to smaller ones was a good idea.

then again i'm less resistant to change than most. the dollar coin in the us was useless because they didn't start withdrawing the bills.

here we have four different sets of notes i think which is more interesting than just the bank of england ones. the newer pound coins which have the bigger queen's head on the back all look fake to me. somehow the images are less clear.

[andyyyyyy]

Too many people think change is automatically a bad thing. If 'resisting change' were an Olympic sport we'd win hands down. Then again it would never be approved by the IOC due to resistance from the British.

I've always been slightly jealous of the Scottish bank notes - they tend to be nicer looking and certainly more varied due to the different providers - the same happens in Northern Ireland too...which makes me wonder why Wales doesn't do it. They do make all our coins for us so maybe that's enough for national monetary pride.