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 Although the UK does not officially convert to DECIMAL CURRENCY until February 1971,  decimal coins begin to arrive before Martins merges with
Barclays. In 1968 the new Five and Ten
Pence coins are in circulation alongside their pre-decimal counterparts, the
shilling and the florin. In 1969 the
Ten Shilling Note is replaced by the Fifty Pence Piece. Some coins will not, however, receive a
like for like replacement – the Halfpenny, Penny and Threepenny pieces do not
represent an exact number of new pence.
Of the pre-decimal coins and notes, the half-crown, the sixpence and
the ten shilling note are surely best remembered by those of us who were
children in late 1960s. From finding sixpences in your Christmas pudding, to
being given a half-crown for doing an errand or a ten shilling note on you
birthday, it seems now like some magical age, and given the strict
order and passage of time, an age that we are not likely to see again.
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 A small glimmer of hope for those still unable to part with “old
money” comes in the form of a reprieve for the Sixpence, which despite
having a somewhat strange decimal
value of two and a half
new pence is so loved by millions
of people, that it is subsequently retained in circulation for a further
nine years until June 1980!
Sadly, the Half-Crown worth an
unwieldy twelve and a half new pence in the new decimal world, is forced to
bow out in 1970, after a quite chequered history. News of its forthcoming demise is
announced in the Spring 1969 issue of Martins Bank Magazine in by Frank
Hardman, (pictured here) retired Pro Manager of Liverpool Trustee
Department, who takes the opportunity to delve into the past of the
Half-Crown…
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A small victory - the sixpence officially joins
the UK’s decimal coins
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  with decimalisation the
half-crown is to disappear from Britain's coinage: from January 1, 1970, the
coin will be no longer legal tender. Introduced
during a period of debasement, minted first in gold, then silver and finally
cupro-nickel, and for a period in the last century its issue suspended, the
half-crown has had a chequered existence. Overspending
by Henry VIII led to the coin's introduction. The first half-crowns were
minted in twenty-two carat gold but before the end of Henry's reign a
twenty-carat version was being issued. Of course the purchasing power of the
half-crown was very much greater then than it is today; consequently the coin
was rarely handled by the 16th century man-in-the-street. The Council of Edward II attempted to improve the
coinage, yet by 1551, towards the end of Edward's reign, the half-crown had
been reduced to a silver coin. Pieces of
silver plate stamped 'xxxd', with the name of the town, served as half-crowns
during the sieges of the Civil War.
 Half-crowns
continued to be minted during the Commonwealth period, though the fine condition
of 'Oliver Cromwell' half-crowns suggest they were never in general
circulation. The first machine-made,
milled-edged half-crowns were minted in 1663, during the reign of Charles II.
These and coins of later reigns bore an obverse design of four heraldic
shields arranged in the form of a cross, and this has led to their being
mistaken for that much later introduction, the florin.
A somewhat half-hearted attempt during
Victoria's reign to introduce decimal coinage into Britain gave birth to the
florin. The coin was issued experimentally in 1848 and carried the words 'One
Florin—One
Tenth of a Pound'. To give it a chance to find acceptance no half-crowns were
issued between 1850 and 1874, but the experiment failed and in response to
popular demand the half-crown was re-issued. Until 1920 the half-crown was minted in fine silver (•925) but in that year the silver content was
reduced to fifty per cent. Finally, in 1947 it was debased to cupro-nickel.
Now, after four centuries, it is to take its place alongside the groat, the
crown and the farthing.
Small change, big changes…
Below we have listed the seven pre-decimal coins and the one pre-decimal
bank note which are either abolished altogether, given a new decimal value,
or replaced by new coins which bear their own decimal value. Our uncirculated coins, dated 1970, are the
last to be issued before decimalisation…
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HALFPENNY
Not directly
replaced,
the old halfpenny
is worth
0.21 new
pence…
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PENNY
Not Directly
replaced,
the old penny is
worth
0.42
new pence…
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THREEPENCE
Not replaced at
all, three old pence would have been
worth
1.25
new pence…
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SIXPENCE
Not replaced but continues
in circulation until June 1980, worth
2.50
new pence…
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SHILLING
Directly replaced in 1968 by the Five Pence piece. Both Scottish and English shillings stay
in circulation alongside the Five Pence piece until 1990…
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FLORIN
Directly replaced in 1968 by the Ten Pence piece. The Florin (our
oldest decimal coin worth 1/10th of one pound)
stays in circulation alongside the Ten Pence piece until 1992…
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HALF-CROWN
Not replaced at
all, the half-crown
would have been
worth
12.50 new pence…
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TEN SHILLING NOTE
Directly replaced in 1969 by the Fifty Pence piece. The Ten Shilling note does NOT circulate
alongside its seven sided metal counterpart…
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